nozze

Forms

nozze f pl (plural only)^[1] Old forms include nòze and nuòze.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *noptiae, a spoken form of Latin nuptiae (“wedding, marriage”), a noun used only in the plural.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The plural named the whole set of wedding ceremonies, and the word referred to the bride.^[4] The Latin noun is formed on the past participle of nūbō (“to marry, take a husband”).^[3][4][7][8]

The open /ɔ/ in place of Latin /u/ is explained in two ways.^[6][9][10] Gröber, followed by Meyer-Lübke and Körting, put it down to Vulgar Latin *novius (“newly married”), Meyer-Lübke also allowing Latin nox (“night”).^[6][9] The DEI hesitates between the two, and Devoto and Treccani prefer a crossing with the word for night, the source of notte.^[5][10][11] Suchier's starting point *noctiae is rejected by Körting, because French would then have had a different form.^[9]

The word is found across Romance: French noces, Occitan nosas, Catalan noces and Romanian nuntă.^[4][6] Spanish and Portuguese lack it.^[5] Romanian and Logudorese nuntas keep the old vowel /u/, and their ⟨n⟩ comes from Latin nūntiō (“to announce”).^[5][6]

The Latin verb probably meant first “to veil oneself”, since the bride took a veil, and it is then of the family of nūbēs (“cloud”), like obnūbō (“to cover the head”).^{[3][4][11][8]} De Vaan finds this sense attractive but unproven, and notes that a root ending in a dental does not fit the participle nūptus; the comparison with a Russian Church Slavonic verb meaning “to court” is less certain still.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, in the sense “wedding, marriage”.^[3] Zingarelli dates the word to 1268, and GRADIT to the second half of the 13th century.^[12][13]

Semantic evolution

From the first records the word meant both the rite of marriage and the celebration that went with it; the GDLI quotes Cavalca on “the time of the wedding”, when a man first brought his wife home.^[2] In the 14th century the adjective nuziale was taken from Latin nuptiālis.^[4]

The phrase andare a nozze, “to go to something one longs to do”, is recorded before 1470 in Luigi Pulci.^[3] Nozze d'argento and nozze d'oro appear in 1831, in a report from Moscow that explains them as a local custom, and nozze di diamanti in 1878;^[3] DELI thinks the custom and the phrases came from Russia or the Slavic world.^[3]

Religious language uses the word for the spiritual union of the soul or the Church with Christ, and for the vows of those who enter a religious order.^{[13][14][15][12]} Botany, following Linnaeus, spoke of the nozze delle piante, the fertilisation of plants, palesi or segrete as the plants had flowers or not.^[14][12] In journalism the word can mean an alliance or agreement between parties.^[16]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses nozze for a wedding.^[3]
• 14th century – nuziale is taken from Latin.^[4]
• Before 1470 – Luigi Pulci uses andare a nozze figuratively.^[3]
• 1831 – Nozze d'argento and nozze d'oro are explained in a report from Moscow.^[3]
• 1878 – Nozze di diamanti is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wedding: the ceremony, religious or civil, in which two people marry, and the marriage itself: Le nozze si terranno in primavera nella chiesa del paese.^{[13][16][15][1]}
2. The feast and celebrations that follow the ceremony: Al pranzo di nozze erano invitati duecento parenti.^[12][17]
3. (figurative, religion) A spiritual union, especially of the soul or the Church with Christ, or the vows of one who enters religious life.^{[13][14][15][12]}
4. (journalism) An alliance, partnership or agreement between institutions or companies.^[16]
5. (botany, dated) In Linnaeus's terminology, the fertilisation of plants.^[14][12]

Related words

• nuziale
• nubile
• Latin nuptiae
• French noces

Usage notes

The word is used only in the plural.^[1][13] Fixed phrases include viaggio di nozze (honeymoon), seconde nozze (a second marriage), nozze d'argento, d'oro and di diamante (the 25th, 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries), invitare a nozze (to offer someone just what they want) and fare le nozze coi fichi secchi (to try to do something grand without the means).^{[13][16][15][12]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 618
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2607
6. ^ a b c d e Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ 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
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli