Etymologically
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numero

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈnu.me.ro/[1]

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

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