nativo

Forms

nativo (feminine nativa, masculine plural nativi, feminine plural native)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin nātīvus (“born; natural, original”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective is formed on nātus (“born”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”), with the suffix -īvus.^[5][1][6] De Vaan traces the verb to a Proto-Indo-European present meaning “to be born”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-.^[7]

The same Latin word was inherited as natio, recorded from 1310–1313 and now literary.^[2][3][8] Wiktionary names naïf, taken from French, as a further doublet.^[1] DEI points to a form Old Italian natibo in the Capuan charter of 960, and holds that the 20th-century sense “naive” owes something to French naïf, and the sense “native of a place” to natif.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the 1532 edition of Ariosto's Orlando furioso (XLVI 18), in a passage not found in the earlier editions, with the sense “of one's birth”: the poet hopes that his fame will be heard from del mio nativo nido, “from my native nest”.^[2][4] An example from a Libro della cura delle malattie, quoted by the Crusca, Tommaseo and Battaglia as older, is a forgery.^[2][10] The phrase lingue native is recorded in 1524 in L. Martelli.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1550 a translation of G. Agricola used the word for a chemical element found uncombined in nature, the sense of argento nativo and rame nativo in mineralogy.^[2][8] In the same century the adjective became a noun for a person born in a place (Ulloa); Panzini asked in 1905 whether its use for an indigenous or “savage” people was not the French natif.^[2] The plural i nativi is still used of the locals as against visitors, often jokingly.^[8][6]

Beside these, the word keeps the older sense of something one has from birth, innate or natural, which the dictionaries now mark as less common.^[8][11][12] Computing added a sense for software or a file format made for one particular system.^[11][13][14]

Timeline

• 960 – DEI cites a form natibo in the Capuan charter.^[9]
• 1524 – Lingue native is recorded in L. Martelli.^[2]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses nativo “of one's birth” in the last edition of the Orlando furioso.^[2]
• 1550 – A translation of G. Agricola uses it for an uncombined element.^[2]
• 16th century – Ulloa uses it as a noun, a person born in a place.^[2]
• 1905 – Panzini's dictionary discusses the sense “indigenous” as a Gallicism.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of one's birthplace; relating to the place where one was born: Ogni estate torna al suo paese nativo.^[8][11][6]
2. Born in a particular place (with di): Mia nonna era nativa di Bari.^[8][11][13]
3. (uncommon) Possessed from birth, innate; also natural, unaffected: una timidezza nativa.^[8][11][14]
4. (mineralogy, chemistry) Of an element: found uncombined in nature, as in oro nativo.^[8][11][12]
5. (computing) Of software or a file format: made for one particular system or program.^[11][13][14]

Noun

1. A person born in a place, a native; in the plural often the locals as opposed to visitors, sometimes jokingly: I nativi ci hanno indicato il sentiero.^[8][12][6]

Word family

• nativamente
• nativismo
• nativista
• nativistico

Related words

• natio
• nato
• nascere
• natività
• Latin nātīvus
• French natif

Usage notes

In the senses “of one's birthplace” and “innate” the literary form natio is also used.^[12][15] Nativo digitale is a person who has grown up with digital technology.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2552
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli