Etymologically
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odio

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Pronunciation

Forms

odio m (plural odi)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin odium (“hatred”), from the verb ōdī (“I hate”), a perfect with present meaning.[2][3][4][1] DEI notes that it came down mainly through the Medieval Latin of the Church; a semi-popular outcome survives only in Old Catalan oy.[5][6] The inherited doublet is uggia (“boredom, irritation”), which Körting traced to the plural odia.[1][7] Spanish odio is also learned.[3][7]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *odjom and has a cognate in Oscan oiim; its /d/ was restored after the verb.[1] DELI finds no sure Indo-European relatives for the verb, while Nocentini and Devoto compare a Greek verb meaning “to be angry” and an Armenian one meaning “to hate”.[2][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Breve di Montieri, a statute of the Tuscan town of Montieri, of 1219, with the sense “total and intense aversion towards someone”.[2][4][9]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini defined hatred as old anger: “Odio non è altro se non ira invecchiata” (hatred is nothing but anger grown old), and the 14th-century commentators on Dante repeat the definition.[10][11] Dante gives the word a moral sense, the condemnation that evil earns in heaven.[4] The sense “deep intolerance of something” appears in Giovanni Della Casa (before 1556).[2]

The verb odiare is formed in Italian from the noun and is recorded before 1250, and odioso “hateful” appears in Dante.[2] Dante also took odibile directly from Latin.[2] Modern usage has odio di classe “class hatred”, and Devoto–Oli records discorso di incitamento all'odio as the Italian for hate speech.[4][12]

Timeline

  • 1219 – Odio appears in the Breve di Montieri.[2][4]
  • Before 1250 – The verb odiare is recorded.[2]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses odioso and odibile.[2]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses odiabile.[2]
  • Before 1556 – Della Casa uses odio for an intolerance of things.[2]
  • 1640 – Odiosità is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. hatred, hate: strong hostility towards someone, with a wish to harm them: Lo guardava con odio.[4][12][13][1]
  2. A deep aversion to or intolerance of something: avere in odio la menzogna.[4][9][14]
  3. In a weaker sense, strong dislike: Ha un odio per le feste di compleanno.[4][15]
  4. (uncommon) An object of hatred or dislike.[13][12][1]
  5. (literary) Moral condemnation of evil.[4][1]

Word family

  • odiato
  • odiatore
  • uggia
  • Latin odium

Usage notes

Odio is also the first person singular present of odiare: (io) odio, “I hate”.[1] The plural is odi, less often odii.[9][12] Avere in odio means “to hate”, and venire in odio a qualcuno “to become hateful to someone”.[9][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2628
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 808
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 3, 572
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli