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novità

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word novità

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1291
Borrowed from
Latin novitas
Ultimate origin
Latin novus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin novitas
Italian novità

Pronunciation

Forms

novità f (invariable)[1] Older forms are Old Italian novitade and Old Italian novitate, and also Old Italian nuovità.[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin novitās (“newness, novelty”), from novus (“new”).[4][5][6][7] The older forms Old Italian novitade and novitate continue the Latin accusative novitātem, and the modern word is their shortened form.[1][8] The same learned word is Spanish novedad.[5]

The Latin noun is formed from novus with the suffix -tās, and Wiktionary suggests that it may be as old as Proto-Indo-European *néwoteh₂ts.[1] The inherited Italian word from the same base is nuovo.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is a document of 1291, followed by Bono Giamboni before 1292, with the sense “something new, newly invented or introduced; something that happens anew”.[4] The Zingarelli dates the word to 1282.[9]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses novitate and novità for newness and for strange new things: in the Paradiso “the novelty of the sound and the great light” (la novità del suono e 'l grande lume) make him eager to know their cause, and in the Purgatorio his eyes are “eager to see novelties”.[2][3] From the 14th century the word also meant news, the events of the day: Matteo Villani writes the histories and novità of his own times.[3]

The sense “strangeness, oddity” is now literary.[8][9] In older and literary use novità also meant political change, and even revolt or sedition, as in Nievo's phrase about a city “reluctant to make novità”;[9][10] far novità contro qualcuno meant to oppose someone.[9][10] Modern Italian uses it above all for news (ci sono novità?) and for new products presented to the public, in publishing, music and fashion.[6][11][12]

Timeline

  • 1291 – Novità is first recorded in a document.[4]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it.[4]
  • 1304–1307 – Dante writes novitate in the Convivio.[2]
  • 14th century – Giovanni and Matteo Villani use the word for current events.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. newness, originality: the quality of being new or recent: la novità di un'idea.[6][11][8]
  2. A change or innovation in some field: Il nuovo direttore ha portato molte novità.[6][11][12]
  3. A new product or work presented to the public for the first time: le novità della fiera del libro.[6][11][9]
  4. news: information about recent events: Hai saputo la novità?[6][11][8]
  5. (literary) Strangeness, oddity.[6][8][9]
  6. (literary, dated) Revolt, uprising.[9][10]

Usage notes

Novità is invariable: una novità, le novità.[1][6] Che novità è questa? expresses surprise and displeasure at something unusual;[6][11][1] Novità?, “what's new?”, is a common greeting.[6][11][1] Non è una novità is said of something already well known.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  3. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2607
  8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Novità.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/novit%C3%A0. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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