ottobre

Forms

ottobre m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Octōber (“(the month) of October”), an adjective used with mēnsis (“month”), formed from octō (“eight”): October was the eighth month of the early Roman calendar, which began in March.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Nocentini traces the form to *octō-sris, with the regular change of *-sr- to -br- seen also in dicembre;^[2][6] Devoto sees the Latin name as modelled on November and December.^[2][6]

Old French oitouvre and Old Occitan oitor continue the Latin word, and French octobre is a learned form;^[2] Ibero-Romance, as in Spanish octubre, goes back to a variant Vulgar Latin *octōbrius.^[2] That variant was common all over Italy from the 6th to the 11th century and survives in Old Italian ottobrio (Bembo) and northern otùbrio;^[7][8] GDLI dates it in Late Latin to the 3rd–4th century.^[7][8] A form Medieval Latin octember, remade after September, is recorded at Florence in 967, and Neapolitan attufre reflects Oscan octufri.^[7]

The Latin numeral continues Proto-Indo-European *h₃(e)ḱtéh₃ (“eight”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Florentine bankers' account book of 1211, as the name of the tenth month of the year.^[10][2][11]

Semantic evolution

The TLIO notes that in the Nativity and Circumcision styles of dating the year it was the tenth month;^[11] Old Italian texts show many forms, such as ottovre, ottobro and otubre.^[11] Dante writes of provisions so subtle that what is spun in October does not last to mid-November.^[8][12]

The word ottobrata, an outing in the country in October, is recorded in the 19th century.^[7][2] Rivoluzione d'ottobre is the Russian Revolution of 1917, and essere rimandato a ottobre recalls the time when school make-up examinations were held in that month.^[5]

Timeline

• 967 – The Latin variant octember is recorded at Florence.^[7]
• 1211 – Ottobre appears in a Florentine bankers' account book.^[10][11]
• 16th century – Pietro Bembo uses the variant ottobrio.^[7]
• 1875 – The adjective ottobrino is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1885 – Ottobrata “October outing” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. October, the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, with 31 days: Siamo partiti il cinque ottobre.^{[3][13][4][14]}

Word family

• ottobrata
• ottobrino

Related words

• otto
• Latin October

Usage notes

Names of months are written with a small letter in Italian;^[1] ottobre is abbreviated ott.^[1] Rivoluzione d'ottobre is the usual name of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.^[3][15]

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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 310
7. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2706
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana