Etymologically
Log in

oggi

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 19:09. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɔd.d͡ʒi/[1]

Forms

oggi[1] Old forms include oi, oie, ogi and ogge.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin hodiē (“today”), literally “on this day”.[2][4][1] De Vaan explains the Latin word as a compound of hic (“this”) and diēs (“day”), probably in an old ablative; the form of the first part is disputed.[5] Nocentini notes that the same pattern is found in other Indo-European languages, as in Ancient Greek σήμερον (sḗmeron) and German heute.[4]

The final /i/ is unexpected, since /e/ would be regular; it is traditionally explained by the ending of ieri (“yesterday”).[2][6] The Latin word lives on across the Romance languages: Old French hui (modern French aujourd'hui), Occitan uei, Catalan avui, Spanish hoy, Portuguese hoje, Sardinian òe and Romanian azi.[4][7] In northern Italy, as far as Liguria and the Marche, the usual words are compounds with “also” in front, such as Venetian ancuò and Lombard incò.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is oi in the 12th-century Sermoni gallo-italici, meaning “on the present day”;[2][9] oie follows in a 13th-century Perugian text and oggi itself in Cecco Angiolieri before 1313.[2][9] A Sienese letter of 1260 already uses ogi for “at present”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was used as a noun, “the present day”, by Brunetto Latini before 1294, and for “the modern age” in Tommaseo's dictionary (1869).[2] Gabriello Chiabrera (before 1638) uses the adverb for “in our time”.[2] The compounds oggidì (before 1292) and oggigiorno (before 1597) mean “nowadays”, and omai “by now” comes from an older oggimai.[2][4]

Phrases such as oggi a otto “a week from today” are elliptical for “counting from today to eight days”.[2] In Tuscany and central Italy oggi can mean “this afternoon”, as against stamattina.[9][10][11] The proverb oggi a me, domani a te says that what befalls one person may befall another.[12][10] Neapolitan and Sicilian borrowed the standard word.[1]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Oi appears in the Sermoni gallo-italici.[2]
  • 1260 – A Sienese letter uses ogi for “at present”.[2]
  • Before 1292 – Oggidì is recorded in Bono Giamboni.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the word as a noun.[2]
  • Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri writes oggi.[2]
  • Before 1597 – Oggigiorno is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. today, on the present day: Oggi piove.[9][10][1]
  2. At present, now, as against the past or future: Oggi la penso diversamente.[9][11]
  3. nowadays, in our time: Oggi si viaggia molto più di un tempo.[9][10]
  4. (regional, Tuscany and central Italy) This afternoon.[9][11]

Noun

  1. The present day: le notizie di oggi.[9][6][1]
  2. The present age: la musica d’oggi.[9][6]

Word family

  • oggidì
  • oggigiorno
  • omai

Usage notes

Al giorno d'oggi “nowadays”, a tutt'oggi “to this day”, oggi come oggi “as things stand” and dall'oggi al domani “overnight, suddenly” are common phrases.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 847
  4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2634
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana