onesto

Forms

onesto (feminine onesta, masculine plural onesti, feminine plural oneste, superlative onestissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin honestus (“honourable, respectable”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective is derived from honōs (“honour, esteem”), the older form of honor (see onore).^[2][3][1] The OLD and DEI start from an old neuter stem, like decus beside decor, and DEI and the GDLI compare fūnestus (“deadly”) from fūnus (“funeral”).^[5][6][7] The word entered the language of philosophy, where Cicero defined the honourable as what can rightly be praised for itself, without any advantage or reward.^[2]

The same learned word is Old French oneste, recorded in 1125, modern French honnête, and Spanish honesto.^[7][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Guidotto da Bologna, in the 13th century, for a person incapable of wicked or unlawful acts.^[2][4] Chiaro Davanzati in the same century uses it as a noun for an honest person, and Brunetto Latini, before 1294, has l'onesto, what is right and honourable.^[2]

Semantic evolution

DELI calls onesto Dante's favourite adjective.^[2] In Dante's sonnet Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare / la donna mia quand'ella altrui saluta (“So noble and so dignified my lady seems when she greets others”) it means dignified and decorous, a sense now archaic.^[4][9] Dante also uses it as an adverb: Farinata hears him “speaking so courteously” (parlando onesto).^[10][11]

Of a woman the word long meant chaste.^[4][10] Before 1294 it is used of what agrees with moral law, and around 1300 of what is fair and acceptable, as in a fair price.^[2] Tommaseo's dictionary of 1869 is the first to record the sense “incorruptible”.^[2] In modern use the word can also limit praise, for a person or a work that is conscientious but unremarkable.^[4][12][13] The noun onestà is recorded before 1292 in Bono Giamboni, and as onestate in Brunetto Latini.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – Guidotto da Bologna uses onesto for an upright person.^[2]
• 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses it as a noun.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Onestà in Bono Giamboni.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the sense “consistent with moral law”.^[2]
• Late 13th or early 14th century – The sense “fair, acceptable” in the statutes of the confraternity of Orsanmichele.^[2]
• 1869 – Tommaseo records the sense “incorruptible”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. honest, upright: acting fairly and refraining from wrongdoing: Mio nonno era un uomo onesto e generoso.^[4][12][9]
2. Fair in dealing; content with a fair profit: un meccanico onesto.^[4][12][9]
3. Conscientious but unremarkable: un onesto romanzo d'avventura.^[4][12][13]
4. In keeping with morality; lawful, legitimate: guadagnarsi da vivere con un lavoro onesto.^[4][12][10]
5. Fair, reasonable; sincere, impartial: un prezzo onesto.^[4][12][10]
6. (dated) Of a woman, chaste.^[4][10]
7. (literary) Dignified, decorous, honourable.^[4][9][14]

Noun

1. An honest person.^[1][14]
2. What is honest and honourable.^[14][11]

Word family

• onestà
• onestamente
• disonesto
• coonestare
• onestare

Related words

• onore
• Latin honestus

Usage notes

Before a noun beginning with a vowel the word can be elided, as in onest’uomo.^[4] Its opposite is disonesto.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2654
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f 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 Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli