ottanta

Forms

ottanta invariable^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *octanta, from Late Latin octaginta, a variant of classical Latin octōgintā (“eighty”).^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Medieval Latin documents of northern Italy show the intermediate forms: Medieval Latin octuaginta, modelled on quadrāgintā, with octuainta at Asti in 957, Pavia in 973 and Padua in 1015, and hoctoanta at Gaeta in 1002.^[7][8] Devoto explains the loss of the /ɡ/ as the regular loss of intervocalic /ɡ/ before a front vowel, as in frale from fragile.^[9] Zingarelli instead takes the word as formed on otto after the model of quaranta.^[10]

The same form lies behind Old French huitante, Occitan ochanta, Catalan vuitanta, Spanish ochenta and Portuguese oitenta.^[3][11] In Latin the tens from thirty to ninety join the unit, here octō (“eight”), to a neuter plural -gintā from Proto-Indo-European *-ḱomt, the element of cento.^[3][9] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *oktōḱomt, from an earlier “eight-ten”.^[1] The variant octuāginta, made after septuāginta (“seventy”), survives in the learned ottuagenario.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest Italian form is octanta in a Lucchese account register of 1268;^[12][2] ottanta is in B. Giamboni's Della miseria before 1292.^[12][2]

Semantic evolution

Dante's Convivio quotes Solomon: “sixty are the queens, and eighty the concubines” (sessanta sono le regine, e ottanta l'amiche concubine).^[8] Use as a noun for the number itself and its written sign is dated to 1740, in G. Grandi.^[12] Tommaseo notes the hyperbolic ottanta volte “countless times” and the low dell'ottanta “enormous”, as in spropositi dell'ottanta.^[13] In the 20th century gli anni Ottanta came to name the 1980s.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 957 – Medieval Latin octuainta is recorded at Asti.^[7]
• 1268 – Octanta appears in a register from Lucca.^[12]
• Before 1292 – B. Giamboni writes ottanta.^[12]
• 1740 – G. Grandi uses ottanta as a noun for the number.^[12]
• 1853 – Ottantina is recorded.^[3]
• 1869 – Ottantenne is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Numeral

1. eighty; eight times ten (80, LXXX): Il teatro ha ottanta posti.^[2][4][10]
2. After a noun, with the value of an ordinal, eightieth: pagina ottanta.^[2][4]
3. (hyperbolic) Very many: Gliel'ho ripetuto ottanta volte.^[4][13]

Noun

1. The number eighty and its sign.^[2][6]
2. (plural) Eighty years of age: Mia nonna ha passato gli ottanta.^[2][4][6]
3. The eightieth year of a century;^[2][4] gli anni Ottanta, the eighties, especially of the 20th century.^[2][4]

Word family

• ottantenne
• ottantesimo
• ottantina

Related words

• otto
• ottuagenario
• ottavo
• Latin octoginta

Usage notes

Before anni the word is elided: ottant'anni.^[10][14] It forms the compound numbers ottantuno, ottantadue, centottanta, ottantamila.^[2][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2704
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana