Etymology and origin of the Italian word mondo
mondo1 clean, peeled
From the same root · mondo1
Pronunciation
- /ˈmon.do/[1]
Forms
mondo (feminine monda, masculine plural mondi, feminine plural monde)[1]
Etymology
The adjective is inherited from Latin mundus (“clean, neat; elegant”).[2][3][1][4] DELI calls it a learned word.[5] The Latin adjective also survives in Old French mont, Old Occitan mon, Spanish mondo, Portuguese mondo, Sardinian mundu and Friulian mond.[2][4]
Its origin is unclear.[5][2] De Vaan mentions a possible derivation from Proto-Indo-European *mewd- (“to rejoice”), comparing Sanskrit मुद् (múd-, “joy”), but finds the meanings unconvincing.[6][1] DEI suggests a Mediterranean origin.[7] The Latin verb mundō (“to clean”), recorded from the 1st century AD, gave mondare, and munditia (“cleanliness”) lies behind mondezzaio.[5][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELI's first record is in Patecchio, in the 13th century, for “cleaned”;[5][8] Zingarelli dates the adjective to 1268.[5][8] Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, uses it figuratively for “free of sin”.[5]
Semantic evolution
The sense “peeled, husked” is in the Italian Palladio of about 1340.[5] A Tuscan proverb warns “Chi vuol la casa monda, non tenga mai colomba” (whoever wants a clean house should never keep pigeons), and to want la pera monda was to want something without effort.[9]
Derivatives tied to farm work followed: monda, the weeding of the rice fields, and mondina, the woman who did it, are northern words of the early 20th century.[5][2] The adjective itself is now literary, or Tuscan for peeled fruit.[10][11]
Timeline
- 1268 – Zingarelli's date for the adjective.[8]
- Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “free of sin”.[5]
- 1304 – Mondare “to peel” is in Giordano da Pisa.[5]
- c. 1340 – The Italian Palladio uses mondo “husked”.[5]
- 1598 – Mondezzaio “rubbish heap” is in Florio.[5]
- 1908 – Mondina “rice weeder” is recorded.[5]
- 1918 – Monda “weeding of rice fields” is recorded.[5]
Meanings
Adjective
- Of fruit, vegetables or grain, peeled, shelled, cleaned: noci monde.[3][10][1]
- (literary) Clean, neat; clear: acque monde.[3][10]
- (figurative) Pure, free from sin: un’anima monda da ogni colpa.[3][11]
Word family
- mondare
- monda
- mondatura
- mondatore
- mondariso
- mondina
- mondezza
- mondezzaio
- mondiglia
mondo2 world
From the same root · mondo2
Pronunciation
- /ˈmon.do/[1]
Forms
mondo m (plural mondi)[1]
Etymology
The world is inherited from Latin mundus (“heavens, universe; world”).[5][2][3][1] It is shared with Old French mont, later French monde, Occitan mon, Catalan mon, Spanish mundo and Portuguese mundo, the last ones (as is the modern French word) shaped by Latin, and with Sardinian mundu, Romansh muond and Friulian mond.[2][4]
In Latin the noun first named a woman's toilet articles and ornaments, and as the name of the ordered universe it copies Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “order; ornament; universe”), which joins the same meanings.[2][5][1] DELI, Nocentini and Sabatini–Coletti connect it with the adjective meaning “neat, elegant”.[5][2][10] De Vaan is less sure that the noun and the adjective are one, and calls its origin unknown: a link with Etruscan 𐌌𐌖𐌍𐌈 (munθ) cannot be shown while that word's meaning is unknown.[6][1] Latin mundānus (“of the world”), which renders κόσμιος (kósmios), gave mondano, and Late Latin mundiālis gave mondiale.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELI's first record is the Ritmo laurenziano at the end of the 12th century, for “all mankind”.[5] Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses it for the universe: “La terra è nel miluogo della composizione del mondo posta” (the earth is set in the middle of the structure of the world).[5][12] Brunetto Latini, before 1294, uses it for the Earth.[5]
Semantic evolution
Dante uses the word for a region or continent and for human life itself (1300–1313), and l'altro mondo “the next world” is in Boccaccio.[5][13] Old Italian also had the plural le mondora.[13][9] The sense “great quantity” (un mondo di) appears before 1497.[5]
The sense “society, the social world” was felt as French: Daniello Bartoli has it in 1684, and Algarotti replaced it in the 1752 edition of a book of 1737.[5] In the 19th century purists also mocked the sense “sphere, milieu” (il mondo della cavalleria), used by De Sanctis, until his example and Fogazzaro's Piccolo mondo antico made it acceptable.[5] Mondano took a pejorative sense from Christian usage, and mondana became a euphemism for a prostitute.[5] English took mondo as an intensifier in 1979, from the title of the film Mondo cane (1961).[14][15]
Timeline
- End of the 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses mondo for mankind.[5]
- Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for the universe.[5]
- Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for the Earth.[5]
- 1304–1308 – Dante uses mondiale.[5]
- Before 1367 – Mondana “prostitute” appears in Fazio degli Uberti.[5]
- Before 1497 – It is used for “a great quantity”.[5]
- 1684 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for “society”.[5]
- 1946 – Cesare Pavese uses mondiale for “wonderful”.[5]
- 1979 – English mondo “extreme” is recorded.[14]
Meanings
Noun
- The universe and all it contains: l’origine del mondo.[3][11][10]
- The Earth, the globe: il lago più profondo del mondo.[3][11]
- (literary) Any celestial body thought to be like the Earth.[3][10]
- Mankind, people in general; society: Tutto il mondo ne parla.[3][10]
- Earthly or secular life, as opposed to the religious life.[10][5]
- A particular sphere or milieu: il mondo del calcio.[10][8]
- (figurative) A great quantity: per il compleanno ha ricevuto un mondo di regali.[11][8]
Word family
- mondano
- mondanità
- mondana
- mondiale
Related words
- cosmo
- Latin mundus
- English mondo
Usage notes
Set phrases with the noun include da che mondo è mondo “since time began”, caschi il mondo “come what may”, mettere al mondo “to give birth to”, l'altro mondo “the afterlife” and mezzo mondo “a great many people”.[3][11][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2495
- ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
- ^ 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
- ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 786
- ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 673
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Mondo.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/mondo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.
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