pietà

Forms

pietà f (invariable)^[1] Old forms are pietade, pietate and pièta;^[2][3][4] GDLI also records pietae and pietati.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Italian pietade and pietate, inherited from Latin pietās (“dutiful respect, devotion; pity”), from its accusative.^[5][6][1] The modern form comes from the old one by loss of the last syllable, and the old variant pièta goes back to the Latin nominative.^[7][4] Battisti and Alessio class it as a semi-learned word.^[8]

The same word is French pitié, Occitan piatat, Catalan pietat, Spanish piedad and Portuguese pietade.^[6][8]

The Latin noun is formed from pius (“dutiful, devout”) with the suffix -tās, with ⟨-iitās⟩ becoming ⟨-ietās⟩ as in societās.^[9][1][10] De Vaan reconstructs the adjective as Proto-Italic *pwījo-, from Proto-Indo-European *puH-io- (“purifying”), but Nocentini leaves its origin open.^[11][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to about 1250.^[12][3] DELI's first record of the sense “compassion for the sufferings of others” is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century;^[5] Brunetto Latini, before 1294, has it as “respect and love towards someone”.^[5] The poet Lotto da Pisa asks for his pains to be shown “so that through great pity” (sì che per gran pietà) the one who can heal him may wish to.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Latin pietās was first a religious feeling of respect and devotion, then affectionate attachment and indulgence.^[6] Italian kept both sides: the literary sense of devotion to parents, country or God (Dante, 1304–1308, for religious devotion), and the sense of compassion that became the usual one.^[5][13] Dante defines it in the Convivio as “not a passion, but a noble disposition of the soul”.^[14][13] In Christian theology it is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.^[12][7]

In art the word names a picture or statue of the Virgin holding the dead Christ: pietate in this sense is recorded in Milan in 1493 and pietà in Vasari in 1550.^[5] This sense was borrowed by German (1610), English (about 1660, OED; 1644 in DEI) and French (17th century, again from 1846).^[15][8]

The word also gave monte di pietà, a pawnbroking institution lending money on pledges without profit.^[16][12] German Pietist, the name given in jest to Philipp Jacob Spener's Lutheran collegia pietatis, gave Italian pietismo and pietista in 1749; from 1933 pietismo was also used for misplaced pity.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – the date GRADIT and Zingarelli give for the first record.^[12][3]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses pietà for respect and love.^[5]
• Late 13th century – the Novellino uses it for compassion.^[5]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for religious devotion.^[5]
• 1493 – pietate names a picture of the Virgin with the dead Christ, in Milan.^[5]
• 1550 – Vasari writes pietà in this sense.^[5][15]
• 1610 – German borrows the art sense.^[15]
• c. 1660 – English pietà is first recorded (OED).^[15]
• 1749 – pietismo and pietista are recorded in the Italian Chambers.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. pity, compassion: the feeling of sharing in another's suffering or misfortune: provare pietà per i profughi.^[12][2][7]
2. A thing, situation or person that arouses pity;^[12][2][3] fare pietà, to be pitiful, also of something very badly done.^[12][2][3]
3. (literary) Affection, love and respect towards someone or something, such as parents or one's country.^[12][2][3]
4. (Christianity) One of the seven gifts of the Spirito Santo, perfecting the virtue of justice.^[12][7][3]
5. Religious devotion: libri di pietà, books of devotion.^[12][3][16]
6. (art, often capitalised) A pietà: a painting or sculpture of the Virgin holding the dead Christ in her lap.^[12][2][3]
7. A depiction of the pelican opening its breast to feed its young with its blood.^[12]

Word family

• pietoso
• pietismo
• pietista
• pietistico
• impietosire
• impietoso
• spietato
• spietatezza

Related words

• pio
• Latin pietās
• French pitié

Usage notes

The noun is invariable.^[1][12] Common phrases are senza pietà, mercilessly, per pietà!, an appeal for mercy, and opera di pietà, a charitable act.^[12][17][3] The art sense is usually written with a capital: la Pietà di Michelangelo.^[12][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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, p. 13, 420
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2911
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana