onorevole

Forms

onorevole m or f by sense (plural onorevoli)^[1] An old form is Old Italian orrevole, and the 13th century also had Old Italian onorevile.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is from Italian onorare + -evole, according to Nocentini, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti.^[6][7][2][8] Treccani, Zingarelli, Gabrielli, the GDLI and Wiktionary instead describe it as a remaking of Latin honōrābilis (“conferring honour”) with the Italian suffix -evole in place of the Latin one.^{[9][3][10][5][1]} The Latin adjective, formed from honōrō with -bilis, was borrowed directly as onorabile, a doublet.^[11][1] honōs (“honour”) has no known etymology beyond Latin, according to de Vaan.^[12]

The parliamentary title is a calque of English honourable, which came into Italian through French honorable.^[8][9][5] DEI notes that both the French and the Italian word entered parliamentary language in the 19th century on the English model.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1294.^[3] DELI's first records, with the sense “worthy of honour”, are in Arrighetto (1304–1313) and in a text of Bencivenni of 1310.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the adjective for people of high rank and standing: Boccaccio has guests dining splendidly con molti onorevoli compagni “with many honourable companions”.^[7][14] The sense “that brings honour” is dated by DELI to Trissino in 1529.^[13] In heraldry pezze onorevoli are the oldest and commonest charges of the shield.^[13][15]

As a title of members of parliament the word is recorded in the Gazzetta universale of 1780, and as a noun meaning “member of parliament” in L'Arena of 1867.^[13] Tommaseo noted in 1869 that the noun, taken from foreign political language, was beginning to sound ironic.^[13]

Timeline

• 1294 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[3]
• 1304–1313 – Arrighetto uses onorevole “worthy of honour”.^[13][5]
• 1310 – Bencivenni uses the word.^[13]
• 1529 – Trissino uses it for what brings honour.^[13]
• 1780 – The Gazzetta universale uses it as a title of members of parliament.^[13]
• 1867 – L'Arena uses onorevole as a noun for a member of parliament.^[13][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. honourable, worthy of honour, respect and esteem: un commerciante onorevole.^[7][2][3]
2. In Italy, the title of members of parliament, especially of the Chamber of Deputies (abbreviated on.): l'onorevole relatore.^[7][2][8]
3. That brings honour and credit: un mestiere onorevole.^[7][3]
4. That does not damage one's honour: un compromesso onorevole.^[7][2][8]
5. (literary) Of high social rank.^[7][2]

Noun

1. A member of parliament, especially a deputy: Ho incontrato un onorevole in treno.^[7][3][10]

Word family

• onorevolmente
• onorevolezza

Related words

• onore
• onorare
• onorabile
• Latin honōrābilis

Usage notes

Menzione onorevole is an honourable mention, and onorevole ammenda was in the Middle Ages the public confession of a crime, today an open retraction.^[7][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2658
5. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana