peggio

Forms

peggio (invariable)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian pegio, Old Italian peio, Old Italian peo and Old Italian pezo.^[2] The earliest record, in the northern poet Gerardo Patecchio, is spelled Old Italian peço.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pēius (“worse”), the neuter of peior (“worse”), which served as the comparative of malus (“bad”) and was used in Latin as an adverb.^[3][4][5][1] Meyer-Lübke notes that the correct Latin spelling has a double consonant, which explains why the first syllable counts as long in verse.^[6] The same Latin word survives in French pis (as in tant pis (“so much the worse”)), Occitan peitz, Romansh pis and Sardinian peus.^[4][7]

Nocentini traces the Latin word to a verb formed from the root Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”), meaning “to fall, to put a foot wrong”, a development like that of Italian scadente “poor in quality” from cadere “to fall”.^[4] Devoto also derives it from a root meaning “to fall”, attested in Indic, Slavic and Germanic, and compares pessum (“to the bottom, to ruin”).^[8] De Vaan connects that adverb with the comparative in the same way.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the adjective “worse”, spelled peço, in Gerardo Patecchio at the beginning of the 13th century; the adverb follows in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

Dante's Paradiso uses the adverb for a tree that bears better and worse fruit (meglio e peggio frutta).^[2] Petrarch used it as a noun, “the worse”: “the evil presses on me, and the worse frightens me”.^[11] Franco Sacchetti has the emphatic peggio che peggio, and Agnolo Firenzuola already uses it before a noun as an adjective (delle peggio maritate, “among the worst-married”), a use that the dictionaries now label popular.^[11][10]

Modern Italian uses it as adverb, invariable adjective and noun; the noun gives phrases such as avere la peggio “to come off worst” and alla peggio “if the worst comes to the worst”.^[10][12] In standard use the adjective is mostly a predicate (è peggio), while before a noun peggiore is the usual form.^[10][13]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses the adjective, spelled peço.^[3]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the adverb.^[3]
• c. 1316–1321 – Dante uses peggio in the Paradiso.^[2]
• 14th century – Petrarch uses il peggio as a noun.^[11]

Meanings

Adverb

1. worse, in a worse way; the comparative of male: Oggi la squadra ha giocato peggio di domenica.^[10][5][13]
2. With stare or sentirsi: in worse health or circumstances: Dopo la cura il paziente sta peggio.^[10][5][14]
3. Before a past participle, forming a comparative of inferiority: È la casa peggio arredata del paese.^[10][15][13]

Adjective

1. (invariable) Worse, especially after essere, sembrare and similar verbs: Il secondo film è peggio del primo.^[10][13][12]
2. (popular) With the definite article before a noun: the worst.^[10][13][15]

Noun

1. The worst thing or part: Speriamo che il peggio sia passato.^[15][12][1]

Related words

• peggiore
• peggiorare
• pessimo
• meglio
• Latin peior

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include di male in peggio “from bad to worse”, tanto peggio “so much the worse” and peggio che andar di notte, said when things keep getting worse.^[10][12][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 933
3. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2822
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 322
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 c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse