numero

Forms

numero m (plural numeri)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian nòmero and Old Italian nùmaro.^[2] Tuscan dialects dissimilate it to lùmero (Florentine ilumero).^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin numerus (“number; rank; measure, rhythm”), a learned word.^[4][5][6][1] The inherited Italian form of the Latin noun is novero.^[6][1][7]

The Latin word was inherited as Romanian număr, French nombre, Old Occitan nombre and Catalan nombre, while Spanish número and Portuguese número are learned like the Italian.^[8][5] The grammatical sense of the Latin noun imitates Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós).^[1]

DELI, DEI and GDLI call the origin of the Latin word uncertain.^[4][3][2] De Vaan and Wiktionary derive it from Proto-Italic *nomezos, with rhotacism, from the root Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to allot, take”) of Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to distribute”) and νόμος (nómos, “custom, law”).^[9][1][5] De Vaan thinks it is probably a thematized form of the neuter s-stem seen in nemus, with the o-grade of a noun meaning “rank, number” in place of the e-grade.^[9] Nocentini explains the ⟨u⟩ as an older ⟨o⟩ changed under the influence of the following labial.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini, before 1294, for the mathematical entity that states a quantity.^[4][6] The Italian version of his Tesoro says that things must be made “a numero e a misura” (by number and measure).^[10]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the word for an indefinite quantity in the Convivio (1304–1308).^[4] The grammatical category of singular and plural is in Leon Battista Alberti about 1454, a person or thing marked by a number in Giovanni Della Casa before 1556, and the plural in the sense “qualities, requirements” in Annibal Caro before 1566.^[4] In the 16th century the word also named the rhythm of a period in prose, and the adjective numeroso meant “harmonious” in 1525.^[3][4]

The publishing and stage senses are modern: “copy” before 1714 in Bernardino Ramazzini, an issue of a periodical in Ugo Foscolo (1810), and an act in a variety show in Panzini's dictionary of 1905.^[4] DELI discusses whether the Latin phrase numerus clausus reached the West from Russia, where it referred to the restrictions imposed on Jews at the end of the 19th century; it is recorded in French from 1908 and in English from 1925.^[4]

Italian lent the word to French as numéro: a number marking goods in 1589, the size of a class of goods in 1723, an issue of a periodical in 1790 and an act in a show in 1879.^[11] German Nummer is recorded from 1531, at first in trade, with the abbreviation No..^[11] Through Ottoman Turkish it also became Turkish numara.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses numero.^[4]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for an indefinite quantity.^[4]
• About 1454 – Leon Battista Alberti uses it for grammatical number.^[4]
• 1531 – German Nummer is first recorded.^[11]
• 1589 – French numéro is first recorded.^[11]
• 1810 – Ugo Foscolo uses numero for an issue of a periodical.^[4]
• 1905 – Panzini records it for an act in a variety show.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mathematics) number, the abstract entity that states how many elements a set has or the place of an element in a series; also the word or figure that expresses it: Sette è un numero dispari.^[6][12][13]
2. The number that identifies an item in a series, such as a page, a house or a telephone line: Mi lasci il suo numero di telefono?^[6][13]
3. A numbered ticket or token, for instance to keep one's place in a queue.^[6]
4. A quantity of people or things: Un gran numero di turisti ha visitato la mostra.^[4][13]
5. An issue of a newspaper or magazine.^[4][14]
6. An act in a show or a variety programme; a short scene or sketch.^[4][1]
7. (grammar) Grammatical number, singular or plural.^[4][13]
8. (plural) The qualities needed for success: Quella ragazza ha i numeri per fare carriera.^[4]
9. (figurative) A funny or eccentric person or situation: Tuo zio è proprio un numero!^[11]

Word family

• numerare
• numerale
• numerico
• numeroso
• numerazione
• numeratore
• numerabile
• innumerevole
• enumerare
• soprannumero

Related words

• novero
• Latin numerus
• French numéro

Usage notes

The word is abbreviated n., No. or n.ro.^[6] Wiktionary also gives a pronunciation with a double /m/, /ˈnum.meˌro/, and the spelling nummero.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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, 658
3. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2610
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana