niente

Forms

niente^[1] Old forms are neente, neiente and nente.^[2] The dialect forms include Sicilian nenti and Piedmontese gnente.^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[3][4][5] DELI, GRADIT, DEI, Prati, Devoto and Gabrielli derive it from a Medieval Latin phrase of the philosophers, Medieval Latin nec entem (“not even a being, not even a thing”), with the participle ēns (“being”) (compare ente).^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]} Nocentini rejects it because such a learned term was unlikely to become a word of everyday speech; for him the word is inherited from Vulgar Latin *nē gentem (“no person”), from Latin nē (“not”) and gēns (“people, clan”).^[3] The old Sienese and Aretine forms ⟨neiente⟩ are the regular outcome of that phrase, and a parallel is Old Italian caiente (“which”), recorded in Old Pisan, from Vulgar Latin *quem gentem, which gave Old Italian ⟨chente⟩ “which, how”.^[3] The GDLI, following Rohlfs, and Treccani also prefer this explanation.^[2][5] A third proposal, Ascoli's Latin ne inde, was criticised by Meyer-Lübke and is judged improbable by the GDLI.^[12][2]

The word is shared with Gallo-Romance: Old French neient (modern French néant) and Occitan neen.^[3][1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to the first half of the 13th century.^[3] The GDLI quotes Brunetto Latini's Rettorica: the three sciences are needed for speaking and writing, “che sanza loro sarebbe neente” (for without them it would be nothing).^[2] DELI's first record of the pronoun “nothing” is in Iacopone da Todi, before 1306, and the noun and the adverb “not at all” are in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the pronoun needed a second negation when it followed the verb (non ho visto niente) but not when it came first (niente lo ferma).^[6][7] In questions and doubtful clauses it means “anything”, and as a noun “a trifle” or “nothingness”.^[7][13] The compounds nientedimeno (before 1292, Bono Giamboni) and nientemeno (1525) are modelled on Latin nihilominus (“nevertheless”).^[6][3][8]

Many set phrases are built on it: di niente as an answer to thanks, non fa niente (never mind), per niente (for nothing; not at all), fare finta di niente (to pretend not to notice) and dolce far niente, pleasant idleness.^[14][11][5] Colloquially it is also a determiner, “no”: niente paura!.^[13][1] German used niente in 1838.^[15]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – Nocentini's date for the word.^[3]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses nientedimeno.^[6]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses the noun and the adverb.^[6]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the pronoun.^[6][7]
• 1525 – Nientemeno is recorded.^[3]
• 1838 – German records niente.^[15]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. nothing: with a second negation when it follows the verb: non ho capito niente, niente è cambiato.^[7][13][14]
2. anything, in questions and doubtful clauses: ti serve niente dal supermercato?^[7][13][16]
3. A trifle, something of no importance: litigano per niente.^[7][16]

Noun

1. nothingness, the void: creare dal niente.^[7][13]
2. A person who counts for nothing: fino a ieri era un niente.^[7]

Determiner

1. (colloquial) No, not any: niente dolci prima di cena.^[13][1]

Adverb

1. Not at all: non mi piace niente, niente affatto, not in the least.^[7][6]

Word family

• nientedimeno
• nientemeno
• annientare
• annientamento

Related words

• nulla
• ente
• nessuno
• French néant

Usage notes

Before a vowel the word is often elided: nient’altro.^[16] Niente and nulla are synonyms in most uses.^[13] Wiktionary notes a regional pronunciation /ˈɲɛn.te/, and a hypercorrect one with a doubled consonant by speakers correcting it after the spelling.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 433
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2585
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 698
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 296
11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse