Etymologically
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otto

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Pronunciation

Forms

otto (invariable)[1][2] An old spelling is Old Italian octo.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin octō (“eight”).[4][5][2][1] The numeral is panromance: French huit, Occitan uech, Catalan vuit, Spanish ocho, Portuguese oito, Friulian vot, Sardinian otto and Romanian opt.[5][6]

The Latin word is from Proto-Italic *oktō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃eḱtéh₃ (“eight”).[7] Like the other basic numerals it is shared by the whole Indo-European family: Ancient Greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ), Sanskrit अष्ट (aṣṭa), Gothic 𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌿 (ahtau), Old Irish ocht, German acht and English eight.[5][7][1] Devoto sees in the ending an old dual, still clear in Sanskrit and Gothic, which would point to a counting system based on four, with eight as a pair of fours.[8][1]

Many Italian words of the family are learned: ottavo, ottagono and ottano, the last coined by French chemists for a hydrocarbon with eight carbon atoms; ottanta is the popular derivative.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1211, in an account book of Florentine bankers, as the number seven plus one.[4][5][2] Bono Giamboni writes of an army drawn up in “otto schiere” (eight ranks), and Dante makes Minos wind his tail “otto volte” (eight times) round his back.[3][9]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century gli Otto (the Eight) was the name of Florentine magistracies, such as the Otto di Balìa.[10][9][2] As a noun the word names the number and its sign (1803), and a track or object in the shape of an eight (1696).[4] The otto volante, a fairground ride on a figure-of-eight track, is recorded in 1935.[5][11] In rowing an otto is a boat for eight oarsmen and a cox (1904), named after English eight.[4][11]

The phrase in quattro e quattr'otto (in four and four makes eight) means “in no time”, as quickly as one adds those round numbers.[9][11] Dare gli otto giorni was to give a servant a week's notice.[11][12] In schools otto is a good mark out of ten, and l'otto per mille is the share of income tax that taxpayers may assign to the State or to a religious body.[2][13]

Timeline

  • 1211 – The first record, in the account book of Florentine bankers.[4]
  • 13th century – The Tristano Riccardiano uses the word.[10]
  • 15th century – Gli Otto names a Florentine magistracy.[10]
  • 1696 – Otto is recorded for a figure-of-eight track.[4]
  • 1803 – Otto is recorded as a noun for the number and its sign.[4]
  • 1904 – The rowing boat called otto is recorded.[4]
  • 1935 – Otto volante is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. eight, one more than seven: La lezione dura otto ore.[2][13][14][1]
  2. After a noun, eighth: Leggete il capitolo otto.[2][13][14]

Noun

  1. The number eight, and the figure 8.[2][13][12]
  2. The eighth day of a month; the eighth year of a century: Ci vediamo l'otto di maggio.[2][13][11]
  3. A good school mark, two points below the highest: Ha preso otto in matematica.[2][13][14]
  4. The eight of a suit of playing cards.[2][13]
  5. (feminine plural) Eight o'clock: Il negozio apre alle otto.[2][11][15]
  6. A track or shape like the figure 8: fare un otto con la bicicletta.[14][11]
  7. (rowing) An eight, a racing boat for eight oarsmen and a coxswain.[4][11][16]

Word family

  • ottanta
  • ottocento
  • ottomila
  • ottenne
  • ottennio
  • otto volante
  • ottavo
  • ottobre
  • ottagono
  • ottuplo
  • Latin octo

Usage notes

Oggi a otto means “a week today”, counting today as the first of eight days.[9][2][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2706
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  16. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org