perdita

Forms

perdita f (plural perdite)^[1] GDLI lists the old form Old Italian perdieta and an old dialect perdeda.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *perdita (“loss”), the feminine of Latin perditus (“lost, ruined”) used as a noun.^[2][3][4][1] The adjective is the past participle of perdō (“to destroy, lose”).^[4][5][6] Sabatini–Coletti instead treat it as an Italian formation from perdere with the suffix -ita.^[7] The noun is stressed on the first syllable, like the Latin participle.^[1][5]

The same noun is Spanish pérdida, Portuguese perda, Old Occitan perda, Catalan perda and French perte, recorded in French from the 11th century.^[8][3][1] The verb is a compound of per- (“through”) and -dō (“to put”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for the act of losing and for a death.^[9] GRADIT dates the word to the second half of the 13th century, and Zingarelli to 1287.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

The commercial sense, an excess of costs over income, is in a document of 1367, and the sense “leak, escape of a fluid” in the physician Antonio Cocchi, before 1758.^[9] GDLI's long article shows the economic and legal uses: loss of goods by fire, flood or theft, by gambling or waste, and by business that went badly.^[2]

Modern Italian uses it for the loss of a faculty (perdita della memoria), of a position or privilege, of a person dear to one, and in the plural for losses of men and equipment in war.^[10][5][6] Perdita di tempo is a waste of time, and a perdita d'occhio means as far as the eye can see.^[10][11][6]

Timeline

• 1287 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[11]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses perdita for losing and for death.^[9]
• 14th century – Boccaccio has the word.^[3]
• 1367 – A document uses it for a financial loss.^[9]
• Before 1758 – Antonio Cocchi uses it for a leak of fluid.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The loss of something one owned; the losing of an object: la perdita del passaporto.^[10][5][7]
2. The loss of a faculty or organ: perdita dell'udito.^[10][5][6]
3. The loss of an advantage, position or privilege.^[10][5]
4. A waste: È stata solo una perdita di tempo.^[10][7][6]
5. The loss of a person close to one, (euphemistic) death, bereavement.^[10][5][7]
6. (chiefly plural, military) casualties and losses of equipment.^[10][5][6]
7. A defeat, especially at gambling, and the money lost.^[10][5][11]
8. (economics) An excess of costs over revenue: L'azienda ha chiuso l'anno in perdita.^[5][7][11]
9. A drop, decrease: una perdita di pressione.^[10][11]
10. A leak of a liquid or gas.^{[10][7][11][1]}

Related words

• perdere
• Latin perdō
• French perte

Usage notes

A perdita d'occhio “as far as the eye can see” is a fixed phrase.^[11][6][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
3. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2847
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli