modello

Forms

modello m (plural modelli, feminine modella, diminutive modellìno or (with specific meanings) modellétto, pejorative modellàccio, derogatory modellùccio)^[1] Old Italian also wrote modelo and model.^[2] Older Italian had the plural modegli beside modelli.^[3]

Etymology

It is a Romance formation, inherited from Vulgar Latin *modellus, a diminutive of Latin modulus (“measure; small measure, module”).^[4][5][6][7] The Latin noun is itself a diminutive of modus (“measure, size, limit”) with the suffix -ulus.^[1][8][9] Wiktionary describes the Italian word simply as coming from a variant of the Late Latin noun.^[1] DEI compares Late Latin modamentum, also used in architecture.^[7] Körting and Prati give the same reconstructed diminutive; the regular inherited outcome of the Latin noun is modano, with French moule and Spanish molde beside it.^[10][11][12]

From Italian the word passed into the other languages of Europe: French modèle (1542, at first also spelled modelle and sometimes feminine), Spanish modelo, Portuguese modelo and German Modell (1610).^[5][13][7] The English word model came through French;^[13] English also borrowed the Italian form modello for an artist's preliminary sketch, recorded from 1937.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest trace is the form modelo “kiln mould” in an inventory written at Modena in 1347; the TLIO's first record is a Sienese document of 1313, where the word names the prototype, drawn or carved, that an artist or craftsman follows.^[4][6][2] In the foundry the word named the wooden pattern from which the mould for molten metal was made (Biringuccio, before 1537).^[4][13]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word broadened from the craftsman's pattern to anything worth copying.^[4][13] The sense “perfect example, worthy of imitation” is recorded before 1544, and “original” before 1564, in Michelangelo the Younger.^[4][13] Vasari explains that sculptors make a small figure of clay, wax or stucco, called a modello, before carving the marble.^[14] Baldinucci (1681) already calls a man or woman who poses for drawing from life a modello; the feminine modella followed later (before 1829, or 1796 in Nocentini).^[4][5]

Modern administration and industry added further senses: the printed form used in public offices (1766–1777), the dressmaker's paper pattern (1891), the garment made to an original design (1946), the industrial prototype for series production (1957), and in science an abstract representation of something that cannot be observed directly (1869).^[4] Today a modello is also a man who models clothes on the catwalk.^[6][15]

Timeline

• 1313 – A Sienese document has modello for an artist's prototype.^[2]
• 1347 – Modelo “kiln mould” appears in an inventory at Modena.^[4][6]
• Before 1537 – Biringuccio uses it for the foundry pattern.^[4]
• 1542 – French modelle (later modèle) is first recorded.^[13]
• Before 1544 – The sense “example to be imitated” is recorded.^[4][13]
• 1598 – Florio records the verb modellare.^[4]
• 1610 – German Modell is first recorded.^[13]
• 1681 – Baldinucci uses modello for a person posing for artists.^[4]
• 1766–1777 – Modello names an official administrative form.^[4]
• 1957 – The sense “industrial prototype” and the noun modellismo are recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A model: an object, real or made, that is meant to be copied, portrayed or reproduced: Lo scultore lavorava guardando un modello di gesso.^[6][15][16]
2. (figurative) A person or thing held up as an example worth imitating: Per molti giovani quell'atleta è un modello.^[6][15][17]
3. A man who poses for painters, sculptors or photographers, or who shows clothes in fashion shows (feminine modella): Ha lavorato come modello per una casa di moda.^[6][15][17]
4. A prototype for industrial production, and each version of a product made from it: Hanno appena presentato il nuovo modello di lavatrice.^[6][15][18]
5. A scale replica of a building, machine or organ, made for study or display: In sala c'era il modello del nuovo stadio.^[15][18][19]
6. A paper pattern used to cut the fabric for a garment, or a garment made to an original design.^[6][18][17]
7. (foundry) The pattern, usually of wood, used to shape the mould for molten metal.^[6][18]
8. An official form to be filled in for an administrative procedure: Bisogna compilare il modello e consegnarlo in ufficio.^[18][4]
9. (science) A simplified representation of a system or phenomenon: un modello matematico.^[6][16]

Word family

• modella
• modellare
• modellino
• modellismo
• modellista
• modellabile
• modellato
• modellatore
• modellatura
• modellistico
• modellistica
• modellizzazione

Related words

• modulo
• modo
• modano
• Latin modulus
• French modèle

Usage notes

Used after a noun, modello is invariable and means “exemplary”: un'azienda modello, scolari modello.^[16] Prendere a modello someone is to imitate them.^[18][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2484
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 670
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
18. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
19. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli