Etymologically
Log in

molto

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 18:36. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

molto (superlative moltissimo)[1] Old forms include multo and multu.[2] Tuscan has the strengthened di molto or dimolto.[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin multus (“much, many”), and as an adverb the Latin neuter multum (“much”).[5][6][7][4] The word is panromance: Old French mout, Occitan molt, Catalan molt, Spanish mucho, Portuguese muito and Romanian mult.[6][8] It was later replaced by French beaucoup in France and by assai in much of southern Italy, though the Abruzzo keeps “mute”.[9][10]

The Latin adjective continues Proto-Italic *molto-, also found in Oscan molto (“fine, penalty”).[11] DELI, Nocentini and de Vaan connect it with Latin melior (“better”), so that its first sense would be “good, abundant”, and compare Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very”) and Latvian milns (“very many”).[5][6][11] De Vaan regards the Indo-European root as weakly supported.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb “greatly” is first recorded before 1250 in an anonymous poem, and Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, uses the adjective “many” and molto before an adjective to form the superlative.[5][7][6] His line Molti amadori la lor malatia / portano in core means “many lovers carry their sickness in their hearts”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini uses molto to strengthen a comparative and as a noun, “a great quantity”, before 1294.[5] Dante has the sense “great”, and Boccaccio “long”.[5] Pietro Bembo noted in the 16th century that molto and assai mean the same.[2]

In music molto strengthens a tempo marking, as in allegro molto;[12] English took it in 1786, German in 1802 and French in 1837.[12] In Italian schools molto was also used as a mark for good work.[13]

Timeline

  • Before 1250 – First record, as an adverb in an anonymous poem and as an adjective in Giacomo da Lentini.[5]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses molto with comparatives and as a noun.[5]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses the sense “great”.[5]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses the sense “long”.[5]
  • 1786 – The musical term is first recorded in English.[12]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. much, a lot of: with uncountable nouns: c'è molta nebbia stamattina.[7][4][14]
  2. many: with plural or collective nouns: ha molti libri di storia.[7][4]
  3. Great, strong: lavora con molta cura.[4][14][15]
  4. Long, of time or distance: dopo molto tempo.[5][4]
  5. Too much, too many: venti euro per un panino sono molti.[7][14]

Pronoun

  1. Much, a lot: ci vorrà molto?.[7][14]
  2. (plural) Many people: molti non erano d'accordo.[7][13]

Adverb

  1. A lot, greatly: ha camminato molto.[7][16]
  2. very: before adjectives and adverbs: è molto stanco.[16][1]
  3. Much, far: before comparatives: molto meglio.[16][5]
  4. For a long time: non resto molto.[16][1]

Noun

  1. (singular) A great deal, much: il molto e il poco.[13][17]

Word family

  • moltissimo
  • dimolto

Usage notes

As an adjective and pronoun molto agrees with its noun (molte persone); as an adverb it does not change (molto belle).[7][16] Its comparative is più and its superlative moltissimo.[14][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 745
  3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 672
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2491
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  16. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  17. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET