Etymologically
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orgoglioso

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Pronunciation

  • /or.ɡoʎˈʎo.zo/, /or.ɡoʎˈʎo.so/[1]

Forms

orgoglioso (feminine orgogliosa, masculine plural orgogliosi, feminine plural orgogliose, superlative orgogliosissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian orgoglio + -oso, from the noun meaning “pride”.[2][3][1][4] GRADIT compares Old Occitan orgolhos, recorded in the 12th century,[3] and the GDLI French orgueilleux, recorded from 1080.[5]

The noun orgoglio came into Italian through Old Occitan orgolh, from a Germanic word, as Pietro Bembo had already recognised.[2][6] DELI gives it as Frankish *urgōlī (“great esteem”);[2] Nocentini starts from Proto-West Germanic *urgōli (“pride”) and compares Old High German urguol.[6] The same word is French orgueil and Catalan orgull, from which come Spanish orgullo and Portuguese orgulho.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini (1230–1250), in a poem that speaks of “orgogliosa genti”, arrogant people.[4][5] The early sense is arrogant and haughty, inclined to despise others.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the Sicilian and Tuscan love lyric of the 13th century orgoglio named above all the lady's disdain for her lover,[2] and orgoglioso was said of one who scorns or mocks a lover's feelings.[4] Old Italian also used it for fierce and violent, for dignified and resolute, and for physically imposing.[4] A 14th-century translation of Livy says that Tarquin was given the byname orgoglioso, “the Proud”,[2][7] and Dante wrote of a sinner “Quei fu al mondo persona orgogliosa”, he was a proud person in the world;[5][7] Giovan Battista Gelli later glossed Dante's word as fierce, inhuman and pitiless.[2]

The positive sense, proud of something and justly satisfied, is recorded from Melchiorre Delfico (before 1835);[2] Tommaseo's dictionary said that this “innocent” pride came from French usage.[2] Older literary senses are now archaic: lush, of a crop (Parini), and strong, of a wine (Redi).[8][9] The adjective was borrowed as Romanian orgolios.[1]

Timeline

  • 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses orgogliosa for “arrogant”.[4]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “haughty”.[2]
  • 14th century – A translation of Livy calls Tarquin orgoglioso.[2]
  • 1554–1562 – Gelli glosses Dante's orgoglioso as “pitiless”.[2]
  • Before 1835 – Melchiorre Delfico uses it for “proud, satisfied”.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. arrogant, haughty, with too high an opinion of oneself: È troppo orgoglioso per chiedere scusa.[3][8][10]
  2. Showing pride or haughtiness: un silenzio orgoglioso.[3][8][11]
  3. proud of someone or something, justly pleased (with di): Sono orgogliosa di come hai giocato.[3][8][10][11]
  4. (archaic) Lush, flourishing; of a wine, strong.[3][8]

Noun

  1. A proud person, one without humility.[9][12]

Word family

  • orgogliosamente
  • orgogliosità
  • orgoglio
  • inorgoglire
  • French orgueilleux

Usage notes

In the sense “proud of” it takes di with a noun or an infinitive.[8][10] The ⟨s⟩ is pronounced both voiced and voiceless.[1][10][13]

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 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 d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  13. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli