Etymologically
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morte

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Pronunciation

Forms

morte f (plural morti)[1] An old and dialect form is Old Italian morti, and old texts also have a plural le morte.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mors (“death”), from the accusative ⟨mortem⟩.[3][4][5][1] The word is common to the Romance languages: French mort, Occitan mort, Catalan mort, Spanish muerte, Portuguese morte, Sardinian morte, Friulian muart and Romanian moarte.[4][6]

The Latin noun is an action noun of morior (“to die”).[7][8] It goes back to Proto-Italic *morti- and Proto-Indo-European *mér-tis (“death”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to die”).[9][1] The same formation is Sanskrit मृति (mṛti) and Lithuanian mirtìs, while the Germanic words (German Mord, English murder) shifted to a death caused by violence.[4][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is a northern sermon of the 12th or 13th century, “zo est antre la via e la mort” (that is, between life and death); then comes the Canticle of Saint Francis, about 1224, with “nostra morte corporale” (our bodily death).[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Death personified is in Pier della Vigna, before 1249, and the death penalty in Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294.[3] In the 14th century the word also meant whatever causes death, as in an Italian Bible, and, figuratively, ruin, an end or a torment.[3] Morte civile, the loss of civil rights, is recorded in 1561.[11][12]

In the dialects of southern Italy morte is a name of the dragonfly, and at Lucca of the praying mantis.[12] Newer phrases include dolce morte for euthanasia and morte bianca, death from freezing and, in the language of trade unions, a death caused by an accident at work.[13][14] In cooking, la morte sua is the best way to cook a food.[5][7][15]

Timeline

  • 12th or 13th century – A northern sermon uses mort.[3]
  • About 1224 – Francis of Assisi writes of morte corporale.[3][4][5]
  • Before 1249 – Pier della Vigna personifies Death.[3]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses morte for the death penalty.[3]
  • 14th century – The figurative sense “ruin, end” is recorded.[3]
  • 1561 – Morte civile is recorded.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. death, the end of life in a person, animal or other living thing: Dopo la morte del padre ha venduto la casa.[5][16][7]
  2. (often capitalized) Death personified, shown as a skeleton with a scythe.[5][7]
  3. The death penalty, as in condannare a morte.[5][7]
  4. (figurative) Great anguish or distress.[5][7]
  5. (figurative) The end of something; the decline and ruin of a state or a society.[5][7]
  6. (colloquial) The best way to cook a food, in la morte sua.[5][15]
  7. In the game of the goose, the square that sends a player back to the start; in tarot, one of the major arcana.[5]

Word family

  • mortale
  • mortalità
  • immortale
  • immortalare
  • immortalità
  • mortifero
  • mortificare
  • mortificazione
  • premorte

Usage notes

A morte means “to death”, as in ferire a morte, and also “intensely”, as in annoiarsi a morte;[16][17][14] avercela a morte con qualcuno is to hate someone, and a ogni morte di papa means “once in a blue moon”.[16][17][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 946
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 288
  9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2513
  13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
  14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  16. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  17. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli