nonna

Forms

nonna f (plural nonne, masculine nonno, pejorative nonnàccia, endearing nonnùccia, diminutive-endearing nonnétta or nonnettìna or nonnìna)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin nonna (“nurse, wet nurse”), a word of children's speech found in late inscriptions, which in Church Latin, from Jerome on, also meant “nun”.^[2][3][4] The masculine nonnus meant “male nurse, tutor” and “monk”.^[2][5] Sabatini explains the religious sense as a title of respect for age.^[6][7]

Nocentini compares Ancient Greek νάννα (nánna, “aunt”) and English nanny, and DELI cites a Greek νόννος (nónnos, “father”).^[2][5] The Church sense passed into Old High German nunna and Old English nunne, the source of English “nun”, and survives in French nonne and Occitan nona “nun”, while Romanian nun keeps the sense “godfather”.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Dominican preacher Giovanni Dominici, before 1419, where the word still means “wet nurse”: he speaks of a child “not yet weaned from the breast of the suckling nonna”.^[5][8] Zingarelli dates the word to 1353.^[9] The sense “grandmother” is first recorded in Francesco Berni, before 1535.^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

Alessandro Allegri, in the early 17th century, mocks the silly tales told by “drooling grannies” by the fire to keep their grandchildren quiet.^[7][8] In old Florentine, buona sera, nonna was said of someone who had drunk too much.^[8] DEI notes that the word is at home in northern and central Italy but not in the South, where Sicily, Calabria and the Salento say nanna, a Byzantine word; in Sicilian nunna means “mother”.^[3]

The word also names an old woman in general, especially as an affectionate form of address, and the phrase della nonna describes what is old-fashioned or homemade, as in torta della nonna.^[10][4][11] In Tuscany it was a popular name of the grey heron, recorded by Paolo Savi in 1823 and suggested by the bird's white forehead.^[3] In army slang a nonna is a conscript about to be discharged, and young people call a slow, awkward person a nonna.^[10][6] English borrowed the word as nonna.^[1]

Timeline

• 1353 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[9]
• Before 1419 – Giovanni Dominici uses nonna for a wet nurse.^[5]
• Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses it for a grandmother.^[5]
• Early 17th century – Alessandro Allegri writes of grannies telling tales by the fire.^[3][7]
• 1823 – Paolo Savi records nonna as a Tuscan name of the heron.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. grandmother, the mother of one's father or mother: La nonna di Luca abita in campagna.^[10][4][6]
2. (familiar) An old woman, especially as an affectionate form of address.^[10][4][6]
3. (youth slang) A slow or clumsy person.^[6]
4. (military slang) A conscript close to the end of service.^[10]
5. (zoology) The grey heron.^[10][6][11]

Word family

• nonnetta
• nonnina

Related words

• nonno
• nonnismo
• French nonne

Usage notes

Mia nonna in carriola! (“my granny in a wheelbarrow!”) is a joking exclamation of disbelief at an exaggerated claim.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2598
4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana