Etymologically
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noioso

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Pronunciation

  • /noˈjo.zo/, /noˈjo.so/[1]

Forms

noioso (feminine noiosa, masculine plural noiosi, feminine plural noiose, superlative noiosissimo)[1] Old forms include Old Italian noglioso, Old Italian noiozo, Old Italian noiuso and Old Italian nuioso.[2]

Etymology

It is most probably borrowed from Old Occitan enojos, from Late Latin inodiōsus (“hateful”), made with an intensive in- on odium (“hatred”).[3][4][5][1][6] GRADIT instead derives it in Italian from noia with the suffix -oso, comparing the Occitan word, and Zingarelli gives the Latin as a reconstructed Vulgar Latin *inodiōsus.[7][8] The same Late Latin word gave French ennuyeux.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the 12th-century Cremonese poet Gerardo Patecchio, in the sense “causing annoyance or vexation”.[9] Patecchio warns against keeping company with a femena noiosa, a tiresome woman.[2]

Semantic evolution

In early poetry the word was strong: Rustico Filippi speaks of the noiosa gente, the hostile people who wish him to die, and Dante in the Vita nuova has Beatrice refuse her greeting fearing the poet might be noiosa, a cause of offence.[2] Boccaccio used it for what causes grief and torment, mille noiosi pensieri, a sense now obsolete or literary.[8][7][4]

In modern Italian noioso is above all “boring”, said of a lesson, a book or a person, and also “annoying, troublesome”, of a pain or a wind.[7][4][10] As a noun it is a bore.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses noiosa.[9][2]
  • 1283–1293 – Dante uses it in the Vita nuova.[2]
  • 14th century – Boccaccio uses it for “painful, tormenting”.[7][8]
  • 17th century – Noiosità is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. boring, tedious: un viaggio lungo e noioso.[7][4][10]
  2. Of a person, tiresome, annoying: Non essere così noioso![7][4][1]
  3. Troublesome, irritating: un noioso mal di schiena.[7][4][8]
  4. (literary, obsolete) Painful, causing grief.[7][4][8]

Noun

  1. A bore, a tiresome person: Sei proprio un noioso.[7][10][1]

Word family

  • noiosità
  • noiosamente
  • annoiare
  • noia
  • odio
  • Old Occitan enojos

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2594
  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 d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse