ottavo

Forms

ottavo (feminine ottava, masculine plural ottavi, feminine plural ottave)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin octāvus (“eighth”), formed from octō (“eight”), whence otto.^[2][3][4][1] The DEI notes that it lives on only in western Romance.^[5] It is Old French oitieve, Old Occitan ochau, Portuguese oitavo and Sardinian ottavu, and Spanish ochavo, which in Spanish names an old copper coin, the numeral having been taken again from Latin.^[3][6]

The Latin ordinal goes back to Proto-Italic *oktāwo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃ḱt(e)h₃-uó-.^[7][1] Its long ⟨ā⟩ is unexpected beside the cardinal: the OLD takes it as standing for an older form in ⟨ō⟩, comparing Ancient Greek ὄγδοος (ógdoos), de Vaan cites Schrijver's explanation by a change of the rounded laryngeal before the ⟨u⟩, and the DEI calls the suffix unclear.^[8][7][5] Devoto sees a blend of an old form like the Greek one with the cardinal, which gave the voiceless consonants and the long vowel.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1268.^[10] DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT give 1282, in Restoro d'Arezzo, and DELI adds Bono Giamboni's Della miseria, before 1292, both for the ordinal “eighth”.^[2][3][4] An Old Italian translation of Gregory the Great has the dialect form oitavo (l'oitavo dì, “the eighth day”).^[11]

Semantic evolution

Dante counts the heavenly spheres with it (La spera ottava vi dimostra molti lumi).^[12] The feminine noun ottava followed by the end of the 13th century, for the liturgical octave, the eight-line stanza and the musical interval.^[3] L'ottava meraviglia, the eighth wonder, after the seven of the ancient world, is said of something marvellous, often in jest.^[12][10]

The noun “an eighth part” is recorded before 1543 in Firenzuola, and Tommaseo quotes un ottavo d'ora from several writers.^[2][12] The book format in ottavo appears in Bembo in 1534.^[2] Ottavino followed in 1722 from ottava in its musical sense.^[3] In music an ottavo is also a quaver, an eighth of a semibreve, and in numismatics it named many old coins worth an eighth, a use the DEI dates to 1915.^[13][14][5] Sport added ottavi di finale in 1953.^[2]

Timeline

• 1268 – first record according to Zingarelli.^[10]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses ottavo.^[2][3][4]
• Late 13th century – the noun ottava is recorded.^[3]
• 1534 – Bembo uses in ottavo for the book format.^[2]
• Before 1543 – Firenzuola uses ottavo for an eighth part.^[2]
• 1722 – ottavino is recorded.^[3]
• 1915 – the coin name is recorded.^[5]
• 1953 – ottavi di finale is recorded in sport.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. eighth: coming after the seventh in a series (8°, VIII): Si è piazzato ottavo nella maratona.^[4][15][10]
2. After the name of a ruler or pope, written VIII: Enrico VIII.^[4][15]
3. (partitive) l'ottava parte: one of eight equal parts.^[4][15][13]
4. (literary) Forming higher ordinals, as in decimottavo.^[4][10][16]

Noun

1. An eighth, one of eight equal parts: Mi spetta un ottavo del raccolto.^[4][15][10]
2. The person or thing in eighth place.^[15][17][13]
3. (music) A quaver, the note equal to a croma.^[4][13]
4. (numismatics, historical) A coin worth an eighth of another.^[4][14]
5. (printing) The octavo format, called in ottavo.^[4][15][13]
6. (sport, plural) ottavi di finale: the round before the quarter-finals.^[4][10][13]

Word family

• ottava
• ottavino
• ottavario
• ottavina
• ottavetto

Related words

• otto
• Latin octavus

Usage notes

Ottava rima is the eight-line stanza, also simply ottava.^[15][10] In tailoring, sette ottavi is a jacket reaching just above the knee.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 g h 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2705
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 276
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse