mortale

Forms

mortale m or f by sense (plural mortali)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin mortālis (“subject to death”), an adjective formed from Latin mors (“death”) + -ālis.^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} De Vaan suggests that the Latin adjective may rather be based on an older adjective Proto-Italic *morto- (“dead”).^[7] mors goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mr̥-ti- (“death”), and is related to morior (“to die”).^[7]

The same Latin word is French mortel, Occitan mortal, Catalan mortal, Spanish mortal and Portuguese mortal.^[8] Körting counts these as learned words everywhere, except for a Sardinian derivative meaning “mortality”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are from before 1294: in Brunetto Latini with the sense “subject to death”, and in Guittone d'Arezzo with the senses “human”, “deadly” and “of death”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Guittone already used mortale of a sin that kills the soul, the peccato mortale of Catholic theology, opposed to the venial one.^[2][10] The noun, “a mortal, a human being as one who must die”, comes from Dante (1313–1319), and the phrase miseri mortali goes back to his use too.^[2] Dante also has the neuter noun il mortale, “the mortal part, the body”, in the Purgatorio, as does Petrarch.^[11][12]

From the sense “deadly” came the hyperbolic “unbearable”, as in noia mortale “deadly boredom”, and “implacable”, as in odio mortale.^[4][13][12] The phrase spoglie mortali “mortal remains” is recorded in 1869.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini and Guittone d'Arezzo use mortale.^[2]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses mortali as a noun for human beings.^[2]
• 14th century – Mortale “mortar” appears in Bolognese recipes.^[14]
• 1869 – Spoglie mortali “mortal remains” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Subject to death, bound to die: Tutti gli animali sono mortali.^[4][13][10]
2. (literary) human, belonging to human life: gli affanni mortali.^[4][13][12]
3. Causing or able to cause death, deadly, fatal: una caduta mortale.^[4][15][13]
4. Of a fight, meant to end with the death of one side, and of an enemy or hatred, implacable.^[4][13][12]
5. Of an insult, that can be avenged only by death, and so, hyperbolically, very grave.^[4][13]
6. (hyperbolic) Causing great suffering, unbearable: una noia mortale.^[4][15][12]
7. Of death, like death: pallore mortale.^[4][15][10]
8. (theology) Of a sin, grave enough to bring eternal damnation: peccato mortale.^[10][12][16]

Noun

1. A mortal, a human being as one who must die, mostly in the plural: un comune mortale.^[4][10][12]
2. (literary) The mortal part of a person, the body as opposed to the soul.^[4][11]

Word family

• mortalmente

Related words

• morte
• morire
• immortale
• mortalità
• Latin mortalis

Usage notes

A different word mortale, meaning “mortar” (for pounding and the gun), was used from the 14th to the 16th century.^[14][17] It is mortaio with a change of suffix.^{[6][14][17][6]} Salto mortale is a somersault.^[13][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2513
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca