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paradiso

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word paradiso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
late 12th century, Ritmo laurenziano
Borrowed from
Latin paradisus
Ultimate origin
Avestan pairidaēza

Pronunciation

  • /pa.raˈdi.zo/[1]

Forms

paradiso m (plural paradisi)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin paradīsus, from Ancient Greek παράδεισος (parádeisos, “garden, park”).[2][3][4][1] The Greek word is Iranian: Old Persian *paridaiza, the same as Avestan pairidaēza (“enclosure”), a compound of pairi (“around”) and daēza (“wall”).[2][3][5][6] DEI, Nocentini and the GDLI connect the second part with the root of Ancient Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos, “wall”) and Latin fingō (“to shape”), Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ-.[7][3][8]

In Latin it meant a park (Gellius), then the earthly paradise in Jerome's Bible and the abode of the blessed in Tertullian.[7] The Greek Bible had used the word for the garden of Eden, and the religious sense passed through Biblical Hebrew פַּרְדֵּס (pardēs);[3][7][8][4] GRADIT sees the Greek as a rendering of the Hebrew “garden of Eden”.[3][7][8][4]

The word is found in almost all the Romance languages but not in Romanian: French paradis, Spanish paraíso, Portuguese paraíso, Old Occitan parazis.[7][3][9] Neapolitan paraviso and French parvis (“church forecourt”) have ⟨v⟩ for ⟨d⟩, which Meyer-Lübke and DEI put down to the spirant pronunciation of /d/ in Byzantine Greek.[9][7] Through Church Latin the word also reached Old High German paradīs and Middle English paradise.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is paradis in the Ritmo laurenziano at the end of the 12th century;[2][4] paradiso appears before 1250 in Giacomo da Lentini.[2][4] The sense is the theological one: the state of eternal bliss of the just who after death see God, and the place where they enjoy it.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used paradiso in its first sense, a pleasant garden, and Brunetto Latini wrote of Adam and Eve being sent fuora del Paradiso, out of the earthly paradise.[7][10] Dante made it the name of the third part of the Commedia.[4] The figurative “delightful place” is dated before 1543 (Firenzuola), and the state of perfect happiness, as in sentirsi in paradiso, follows from it.[2][4]

The word gained technical senses: from 1283 at Venice a cabin on the deck of a galley, in medieval architecture the arcaded courtyard in front of a basilica, and in the 18th-century theatre the top gallery.[7][4][5] The paradisea, the bird of paradise, is named for its beauty (1829).[2][3] Paradisi artificiali, the bliss produced by drugs, comes from the title of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels (1861), and paradiso fiscale, a tax haven, is recorded from 1973.[2][5]

From the 14th century paradiso is also an adjective for early, especially sweet varieties of fruit, mele paradise, uva paradisa.[7][8][10] German Paradiesapfel “tomato” is a borrowing of this Italian use.[7]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – paradis in the Ritmo laurenziano.[2]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses paradiso.[2][4]
  • 1283 – At Venice the word names a cabin on the deck of a galley.[7]
  • 14th century – the adjective for choice fruit appears.[7][4]
  • Before 1543 – Firenzuola uses it for any delightful place.[2]
  • 1829 – paradisea, the bird of paradise, is recorded.[2][3]
  • 1973 – paradiso fiscale is first recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (religion) In Christian belief, the place of eternal bliss where the souls of the just go after death; also the state of seeing God: pregare per le anime del paradiso.[4][11][5]
  2. In other religions, the place or condition of lasting happiness of the dead: il paradiso promesso dal Corano.[4][11]
  3. The representation of that place by a writer or artist; with a capital letter, the third part of Dante's Commedia.[4][11]
  4. (figurative) A state of perfect happiness: Con te accanto mi sento in paradiso.[4][5]
  5. (figurative) A delightful place: Quest'isola è un vero paradiso.[4][5][12]
  6. An ideal place for a group with particular interests: un paradiso per chi ama la vela.[4]
  7. Paradiso terrestre: the garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived.[5][12]
  8. Paradiso fiscale: a tax haven.[12][5]
  9. (architecture) The arcaded courtyard in front of an early Christian or Romanesque church.[4][5]
  10. (nautical, historical) On 16th- and 17th-century sailing ships, the cabin on the upper deck used as living quarters.[4][5]

Adjective

  1. (invariable) Of varieties of fruit with a particularly pleasant taste: un fico paradiso.[4][11][5]

Word family

  • paradisiaco
  • paradisea
  • imparadisare
  • Latin paradisus
  • Ancient Greek παράδεισος (parádeisos)
  • French paradis

Usage notes

Common phrases are andare in paradiso (to die), avere qualche santo in paradiso (to have friends in high places) and stare in paradiso a dispetto dei santi (to stay where one is not wanted).[12][11][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 m n o p q r s De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2766
  8. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Paradiso.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/paradiso. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·