pianezza

Forms

pianezza f (plural pianezze)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin plānitia (“flatness; a plain”) for Zingarelli, Sabatini–Coletti, Gabrielli, the DEI and the GDLI, the Latin noun being formed on plānus (“flat, level”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The GDLI also names the classical plānitiēs.^[6] Wiktionary too calls the word inherited.^[1] GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Treccani instead treat it as an Italian formation, from Italian piano + -ezza.^[7][8][9]

Meyer-Lübke and the DEI set beside it Spanish llaneza, which continues the same Latin word.^[10][5] Körting gives it under the same Latin word too.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1266 and GRADIT to before 1294.^[2][7] The DEI names Brunetto Latini as its first author, for the state of being flat.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The GDLI gathers the old senses: the flat lie of a surface or a place, the calm of the sea, the flatness of the earth that some still defended, and in concrete use the flat part of a tool, such as the blade of a trowel in the Italian Bible.^[6] In Boccaccio's Filocolo the speaker prays to Venus to bring the seas that heap themselves into foaming mountains back to their usual calm (nelle sue usate pianezze).^[6][12][9] The DEI cites Boccaccio for the sense “plain, flat ground”, and Adriani Politi glossed the word as Florentine for pianura, Latin planities.^[5][6]

Figurative senses followed: smoothness of bark in the Italian Crescenzi, mildness of manner in Dino Frescobaldi's love poetry, and clarity of style, as when Carducci contrasted the plainness of some light strophes with the austerity of Cavalcanti's Donna mi prega.^[6][9] Today the word is rare, and the sense “plain” is archaic.^[7][8][1]

Timeline

• 1266 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[2]
• Before 1294 – GRADIT's date of first record.^[7]
• 1861 – Tommaseo–Bellini defines it as a plain, with pianezza di campi, and as the flat part of a tool.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (uncommon) flatness, smoothness: the quality of a surface without unevenness.^[7][3][9]
2. (figurative) Ease, simplicity, clarity, especially of writing.^[7][8][9]
3. (figurative) meekness, mildness of manner.^[7][8][2]
4. (archaic) A plain, flat ground.^[7][8][3]
5. (literary) Calm of the sea.^[9][1]

Related words

• piano
• pianura
• planizia
• Latin planities
• Spanish llaneza

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2893
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET