nonno

Forms

nonno m (plural nonni, feminine nonna, diminutive nonnétto or nonnìno, pejorative nonnàccio, endearing nonnùccio)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin nonnus (“monk; male nurse, tutor”), the masculine of nonna (“nurse”).^[2][3][4][1] It is a word of children's speech.^[2][4][5] In the language of the Church it became a title of respect for an elderly man or one of high standing, and then the word for a monk, as in the Rule of Saint Benedict.^[6][7][8]

The Latin word is a nursery word, a doubled /n/ with a vowel, like Welsh nain (“grandmother”), Sanskrit नना (nanā́, “mother”), Ancient Greek νάννας (nánnas, “uncle”), Albanian nënë (“mother”) and Russian ня́ня (njánja, “nanny”).^[9][1] DELI and GRADIT compare νόννος (nónnos, “father”).^[2][3] Its Romance descendants vary in meaning: French nonne (“nun”), Sardinian nonnu (“godfather”), Sicilian nunnu (“father”).^[10] In Calabria and Sicily the grandfather is instead nannu, from the related nursery word nanna.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a sonnet of Antonio Alamanni, who died in 1528, about a baby who chiamò babbo, mamma, nonno e zio (“called daddy, mummy, grandpa and uncle”).^[2][7][8] Nonna is older in the sense “wet nurse”, in Giovanni Dominici before 1419, and means a grandmother from Francesco Berni, before 1535.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in Giovanni Maria Cecchi, before 1587, nonno could mean any old man, and the plural i nonni came to stand for the ancestors, the people of former times.^[2][8] The augmentative nonnone for a slow, decrepit person is recorded by Fanfani in 1855.^[6]

In the slang of Italian barracks the nonno is the conscript near discharge who lords it over new recruits, the origin of nonnismo.^[3][12][13] The word was borrowed into English and into Mòcheno.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1419 – Giovanni Dominici uses nonna for a nurse.^[2]
• Before 1528 – Antonio Alamanni uses nonno for a grandfather.^[2]
• Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses nonna for a grandmother.^[2]
• Before 1587 – Giovanni Maria Cecchi uses nonno for an old man.^[2]
• 1855 – Fanfani records nonnone.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. grandfather, the father of one's father or mother: nonno paterno, nonno materno.^[3][4][12]
2. (plural) Grandparents; also forebears, the people of earlier generations: ai tempi dei nostri nonni.^[3][4][12]
3. (colloquial) An old man, especially as an affectionate form of address.^[3][12][13]
4. (figurative, derogatory) Someone who seems older than his years in looks or ways.^[4]
5. (figurative, humorous) A forerunner, prototype: il telegrafo è il nonno di internet.^[3][4]
6. (military slang) A conscript close to discharge who claims privileges over the recruits.^[3][12][13]

Word family

• nonna
• bisnonno
• trisnonno
• nonnismo
• nonnolone

Related words

• Late Latin nonnus

Usage notes

Sì, mio nonno! or mio nonno in carriola! is a colloquial retort that dismisses what someone has said as unbelievable.^[3][14][4]

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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ 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
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. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 701
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2598
7. ^ a b 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli