mondezza

mondezza¹ cleanliness

Etymology tree of mondezza¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin mundus

Italian mondo

Italian mondezza

Spanish mundo

French monde

From the same root · mondezza¹

Latin immundus ← mundus

Latin mundānus ← mundus

Latin munde ← mundus

Latin mundiālis ← mundus

Latin munditia ← mundus

Latin mundō ← mundus

Pronunciation

• /monˈdet.t͡sa/^[1]

Forms

mondezza f (plural mondezze)^[1]

Etymology

The word for cleanliness and purity is formed from Italian mondo² + -ezza, the adjective meaning “clean, pure”.^[2][3][4] Several dictionaries derive it instead straight from Latin munditia (“cleanliness”), itself formed from mundus (“clean”) with the suffix -itia.^{[5][6][7][1][8]} Battisti and Alessio treat the literary mondizia as its learned doublet, and Meyer-Lübke and Körting list the word as the outcome of the Latin noun.^[9][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GRADIT and the Zingarelli date the word to 1306, and Nocentini to the early 14th century, with the sense “purity, cleanliness”.^[2][5][4] The learned mondizia had the sense “cleanliness” in Giordano in 1305–06.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian devotional prose the word is the cleanness the soul longs for, and in Fazio degli Uberti the Virgin's purity passes “every cleanness”.^[13] Segneri preached “cleanness of thoughts, of words, of deeds”, which the dictionaries still quote as the typical use.^[13][14] The word is now literary or uncommon and mostly figurative.^[2][3][14]

Timeline

• 1306 – First record of mondezza.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) Cleanliness, the state of being clean; by extension, a neat and tidy look.^[2][6][7]
2. (figurative) Spiritual purity: mondezza di pensieri.^[2][3][14]

mondezza² rubbish

Pronunciation

• /monˈdet.t͡sa/^[1]

Forms

mondezza f (plural mondezze)^[1]

Etymology

The word for rubbish is a clipping from Italian immondezza (“filth, rubbish”), which lost its first syllable.^{[4][2][3][5][15]} Immondezza is formed from immondo “unclean” with the suffix -ezza.^[2]

Battisti and Alessio and the Treccani instead see a development of the word for “cleanliness”, through the sense “what is swept away in cleaning”.^[9][14] Battisti and Alessio cite Medieval Latin mondeciis “sweepings” of the streets from Rome in the 13th century, monnezzarium from Velletri in the 16th century and mondezarium from Fano in 1508.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GRADIT and the Zingarelli date it before 1556.^[2][5] DELI's first example is from Caporali, before 1601, who writes that what looks like rubbish in others becomes fine gold in him.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word is regional, central and southern, and above all Roman, where it has the form monnezza.^[5][14][3] The derivative mondezzaio, a dunghill or rubbish heap, is used by Segneri, and in Rome monnezzaro was also the street sweeper.^[16][9] Oudin's dictionary already gives mondezza “sweepings”.^[16]

Timeline

• 13th century – Medieval Latin de mondeciis viarum is recorded in Rome.^[9]
• 1508 – Medieval Latin mondezarium is recorded at Fano.^[9]
• Before 1556 – First record of mondezza “rubbish”.^[2][5]
• 1582 – The full form immondezza “rubbish” is recorded.^[12][2]
• Before 1601 – Caporali uses mondezza “rubbish”.^[12]
• 17th century – Mondezzaio is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, Rome, central and southern Italy) rubbish, sweepings, garbage.^[2][3][5][1]

Word family

• mondezzaio