parecchio

Forms

parecchio (feminine parecchia, masculine plural parecchi, feminine plural parecchie)^[1] Old forms include parechio, paregio and parichio.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pariculus (“of the same kind, similar”), a diminutive of Latin pār (“equal”).^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin adjective is recorded in the Lex Salica.^[1] The Italian word moved from “similar, comparable” to “a fair amount”: Nocentini explains this through quantity phrases such as “in a comparable amount” or “in proportionate measure”, read as a positive judgement of the quantity, and Devoto through an intermediate sense “double”.^[4][7]

The same Latin word gave French pareil, Old Occitan parelh, Spanish parejo and Portuguese parelho, all meaning “similar, equal”, and Romanian pereche (“pair”).^[4][8] Old Italian pareglio “equal, similar” was borrowed from the Occitan word, and pariglia “pair of horses” comes from the same Latin source.^[9][8][4]

The origin of the Latin adjective is unclear: a traditional reconstruction is Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- (“to exchange, sell”), which accounts badly for the vowel, and de Vaan suggests Proto-Indo-European *peh₂s- (“to watch over”), linking pāreō.^[10][1] The Umbrian form pars (“prescribed”) may be related.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the 13th-century Gesta Florentinorum, meaning more than enough in quantity or number: “he stayed in Rome several days” (In Roma stette parecchie dì).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Dante still used the word in the old sense “equal, similar” (Salendo su per lo modo parecchio / a quel che scende, “rising in a manner equal to that which descends”), and in the Inferno in the modern sense: Di parecchi anni mi mentì lo scritto “the writing lied to me by several years”.^{[11][12][2][13]} Boccaccio used it as a noun meaning “an equal” (che non avrà giammai un tuo parecchio, “who will never have one like you”).^[13][14] Tommaseo–Bellini mark the old sense “equal” as obsolete and record the adverbial use, with time, space or the like understood, as familiar.^[13]

Timeline

• 13th century – Parecchio appears in the Gesta Florentinorum.^[3][2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it both for “equal” and for “several”.^[2][11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Quite a lot of, a good deal of, in considerable quantity, though less than molto: C'era parecchio traffico in città.^{[5][6][15][1]}
2. (in the plural) several, quite a few: L'ho aspettato per parecchie ore.^[5][11][1]
3. Strong or intense, or long in time or space: Ha fatto parecchia fatica a convincerlo.^[5][6]
4. (archaic) Equal, similar.^[5][11][12]

Pronoun

1. A good deal, quite a lot, referring to something already mentioned: Di libri ne ha parecchi.^{[5][6][15][1]}
2. (in the plural) Quite a few people: Alla festa sono venuti in parecchi.^[5][6][12]
3. (neuter) A long time, a large sum and the like, understood from the context: Il nuovo divano è costato parecchio.^[5][11][12]

Adverb

1. Rather, considerably, quite a lot: Questa casa è parecchio più grande della nostra.^{[5][12][14][1]}

Related words

• pari
• pariglia
• Latin pār
• French pareil

Usage notes

The nautical remo di parecchio (1935), each of a pair of oars worked together, is a separate noun: Devoto–Oli derive it from the same source, Sabatini–Coletti call its origin uncertain, and the GDLI suggests a variant of pareggio.^[6][11][2] Treccani records the diminutives parecchino and parecchiuccio.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli