ovvio

Forms

ovvio (feminine ovvia, masculine plural ovvi, feminine plural ovvie)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin obvius (“in the way, meeting; easy, ordinary”).^[2][3][4][1] The adjective was drawn from obviam (“towards, to meet”), the phrase ob (“towards, against”) viam (“the road”), “in front of the road”.^[2][3][5] Battaglia adds that it was formed like dēvius and pervius, and Nocentini traces ovviare to the same phrase.^[6][3] The same Latin word gave Spanish obvio.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boccaccio already uses the word in its Latin sense “going to meet”: “Lia riverente s’alzò ovvia a quelle ninfe” (“Lia rose respectfully to meet those nymphs”).^[7][8][9] DELI dates the modern sense, “that comes to mind naturally”, to Paolo Segneri in 1672.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Segneri wrote of suggesting the remedies “that are at least the most ovvi”, the readiest at hand, and Anton Maria Salvini used it for what is common and trivial.^[7][6] The spelling obvio is recorded but has fallen out of use.^[6] In modern Italian the word is used above all for what is self-evident, and for what is banal or predictable;^[4][10][11] ovvio! alone is an answer meaning “of course”.^[4][10][11] The noun ovvietà is first recorded in Carlo Emilio Gadda in 1957.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 14th century – Boccaccio uses ovvia in the sense “going to meet”.^[9][7]
• 1672 – Paolo Segneri uses it for what comes readily to mind.^[2][4]
• 1957 – Ovvietà appears in Carlo Emilio Gadda.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Obvious, evident at once and leaving no room for doubt, often in è ovvio che: È ovvio che non posso venire.^[4][10][12]
2. Banal, predictable, lacking originality: una battuta piuttosto ovvia.^[4][10][13]
3. (colloquial) As an answer, “of course”: «Vieni con noi?» «Ovvio!»^[10][11]
4. (archaic) Going to meet someone.^[8][7]

Word family

• ovviamente
• ovvietà

Related words

• ovviare
• via
• Latin obvius

Usage notes

The masculine plural is ovvi, rarely ovvii.^[11][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 304
7. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2710
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana