moneta

Forms

moneta f (plural monete)^[1] Old and dialect forms include monta, monèda, monètta, munéta and munète.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin moneta (“mint; minted money”), a learned word according to DELI and GDLI.^[3][2][4][1] The Latin noun first named the mint of Rome, which was in the temple of Juno Moneta on the Capitol, and then the money coined there.^[3][5][4][6] Latin derivatives already included monetālis and monetārius, while Medieval Latin had monetagium “minting tax”; the other Italian derivatives were made in Italian.^[3]

DEI calls the word pan-Romance, found also in Vegliote but not in Romanian:^[7] French monnaie, Occitan moneda, Catalan moneda, Spanish moneda, Portuguese moeda, Dalmatian monaita and Friulian monede.^[5][8] It passed into Germanic in imperial times: Old High German munizza, whence German Münze, and Old English mynet, whence the English word mint.^[5][8]

The epithet is usually derived from moneō (“to remind, warn”): Livius Andronicus used it to translate Ancient Greek Μνημοσύνη (Mnēmosúnē), the mother of the Muses, whose name means memory, and the derivation goes back to Cicero.^{[5][9][1][10]} Treccani gives the ancient explanation that Juno warned the Romans in times of danger.^[6] Devoto notes that the noun need not belong to the family of the verb, though the translation supports a derivative like obsolētus.^[9] Other views make it a Punic word (DEI) or connect the earlier Italic goddess's name with Ancient Greek μονήρης (monḗrēs, “solitary, unique”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Ugieri Apugliese, before 1250, with the sense “coin”: a disc of metal struck by the state, of fixed alloy, weight and value.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

By the late 13th century moneta meant money in general (Bono Giamboni, before 1292), and in the 14th century Guido da Pisa used it for money as the medium of exchange, adding that it was called pecunia from the sheep (pecore).^[3][2] The Venetian translation of Marco Polo describes a people who “have paper money” (hanno moneta di carta).^[2] The sense “small change” is found in Sercambi around 1400 and in Pulci before 1484.^[3]

Dante has monetiere for a coiner.^[11] Monetaggio, the cost of coining money, appears in Davanzati in 1558, monetario and monetazione before 1776, and circolazione monetaria in the acts of the Roman Republic in 1798.^[3] Monetizzare is a recent loan from French according to DELI, first recorded in 1955 after Luigi Luzzatti's figurative monetizzare gli entusiasmi of 1911–1912;^[3][5] Nocentini dates it before 1861, formed on French monétiser.^[3][5] Modern finance added moneta calda, a calque of English hot money.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Ugieri Apugliese uses moneta for a coin.^[3]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for money in general.^[3]
• 14th century – Guido da Pisa defines money as the medium of exchange.^[3][2]
• c. 1400 – Sercambi uses it for small change.^[3]
• 1558 – Monetaggio is recorded in Davanzati.^[3]
• 1798 – Circolazione monetaria appears in the acts of the Roman Republic.^[3]
• 1955 – Monetizzare is recorded in a dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A coin: a small disc of metal struck by an authority that fixes its alloy, weight and value: Ho trovato una moneta d'argento nel giardino.^[4][6][13]
2. money as a means of payment and measure of value, in coins, notes or other forms: moneta metallica, moneta cartacea.^[4][12][14]
3. The currency of a country: la moneta europea.^[4][10]
4. (economics) The total of notes, coins and bank deposits that make up a country's liquidity.^[4][10]
5. (uncountable) Small change, coins: Hai moneta per il caffè?^[4][10]
6. (horse racing) Prize money in a race.^[4][10]

Word family

• monetina
• monetario
• monetare
• monetizzare
• monetazione
• monetaggio
• monetale
• monetiere
• monetizzazione
• smonetare
• demonetizzare

Related words

• Latin moneta
• German Münze
• English mint

Usage notes

Common phrases are battere moneta (to mint coins), lanciare la moneta (to toss a coin), moneta debole and moneta forte, and moneta calda (hot money).^{[4][14][13][1]} The old figurative moneta tosa, a clipped coin, was said of an untrustworthy person.^[15] As a place name, as in the Canavese Amonea, the word first meant a place where a toll was collected.^[7][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2496
8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 673
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)