Etymologically
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nonno

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Pronunciation

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

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