Etymology and origin of the Italian word popolare
popolare1 of the people
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- c. 1250
- Borrowed from
- Latin popularis
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Italic *poplo-
Etymology tree of popolare1
From the same root · popolare1
Pronunciation
- /po.poˈla.re/[1]
Forms
popolare m or f by sense (plural popolari, superlative popolarissimo)[1] Old forms include Old Italian populare, Old Italian popolaro, Old Italian popular and the northern Old Italian povolar.[2][3]
Etymology
The word for “of the people” is learned: it is borrowed from Latin populāris (“of the people, public”), an adjective formed from Latin populus + -āris.[4][5][6][3][7][8] French populaire, recorded from the 12th century, is a parallel learned borrowing.[8] Treccani traces the sense “well known, liked” to the influence of the English word popular.[9]
The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *poplo- (“army”), also in Umbrian poplom; where the Proto-Italic word comes from is unknown.[10]
Earliest recorded meaning
GRADIT dates the adjective to about 1250, and the TLIO's first record is in the Florentine Fiori di filosafi of 1271–1275.[6][2] In the medieval cities it described the merchants and craftsmen organised in the guilds and their party, the popolo, which stood against the noble families.[2]
Semantic evolution
In Old Italian the word could also mean ordinary or common, of middling quality, and even a lesser river, a tributary.[2] As a noun it named a member of the urban middle class: the popolare grasso belonged to the rich merchant élite, the popolare minuto to the small traders and workers, and in chess the word stood for a pawn.[2]
DELI dates the sense “of the lower classes” to the Novellino (late 13th century), “of the people as a whole body of citizens” to L. Falier (late 15th century), “known and liked by the people” to Machiavelli (before 1527), and “coming from or spread among the people” to G. Baini (1828).[11] In the 20th century the word named the Partito Popolare Italiano, founded in 1919, and its members.[12][6] Linguists call a word popolare when it came down from Latin by word of mouth with all the regular sound changes, as against a learned word.[5][9]
Timeline
- c. 1250 – GRADIT's date of first record.[6]
- 1271–1275 – The Fiori di filosafi uses the word in Florence.[2]
- Late 13th century – “of the lower classes” in the Novellino.[11]
- Late 15th century – “of the citizens as a whole” in L. Falier.[11]
- Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for “known and liked by the people”.[11]
- 1828 – G. Baini uses it for “coming from the people”.[11]
- 1919 – The Partito Popolare Italiano is founded.[12][5]
Meanings
Adjective
- Of the people as the whole body of citizens: la volontà popolare, sovranità popolare; by extension, democratic.[6][5][13][14]
- Of the working or poorer classes; built or organised for them: case popolari (council housing), un quartiere popolare.[6][13][14]
- (history) In the medieval communes, belonging to the urban middle class between the nobles and the plebs; also as a noun.[6][2]
- Favourable to the poorer classes: una riforma popolare.[6][14]
- Belonging to a people's folk culture, or imitating it: canti popolari, medicina popolare.[6][13][15]
- Aimed at a broad public with simple tastes; cheap, of prices: prezzi popolari.[6][15][1]
- Well known and liked, popular: un comico molto popolare.[6][13][1]
- (linguistics) Of a word, inherited from Latin through continuous oral use, as opposed to a learned word.[5][9]
- (politics, noun, chiefly plural) A member of the Partito Popolare Italiano.[6][9]
Word family
- popolarità
- popolaresco
- popolarmente
- impopolare
- popolarizzare
- nazionalpopolare
- popolareggiante
- antipopolare
popolare2 to populate
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1322 before 1322, Binduccio dello Scelto (Siena)
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Italic *poplo-
Etymology tree of popolare2
From the same root · popolare2
Pronunciation
- /po.poˈla.re/[1]
Forms
popolare (first-person singular present pòpolo, first-person singular past historic popolài, past participle popolàto, auxiliary avére)[1]
Etymology
The word for “to populate” is formed from Italian popolo + -are.[2][5][13][14][1] GRADIT derives it instead from Medieval Latin populāre, and the GDLI compares the Medieval Latin verb and French peupler, Old French popler (1160).[6][16] In classical times Latin populārī meant something quite different, “to ravage, lay waste”.[10][17][18]
The same formation is Catalan poblar, Occitan poblar, Spanish poblar, Portuguese povoar and Romanian popula.[1][17]
Earliest recorded meaning
The TLIO's first record is in Binduccio dello Scelto, a Sienese writer, before 1322.[2] DELI and GRADIT date it from G. Villani (before 1348), with the sense “to make a place inhabited, provide it with people”.[11][6]
Semantic evolution
G. Villani tells how the English king had Calais enlarged and popololla di suoi Inghilesi (“peopled it with his Englishmen”).[16] The sense “to fill with people” follows in Parini (1765), and Tommaseo cites popolare le carceri (to fill the prisons).[11][18]
The derivative popolazione appears in Machiavelli in the 16th century, at first for a nation, and in 1618 in Buonarroti for the number of people living in a country.[8] In the 16th and 17th centuries it could also mean “village”, after Spanish población.[8]
Timeline
- Before 1322 – First record, in Binduccio dello Scelto.[2]
- Before 1348 – G. Villani uses it for “to people a place”.[11][6]
- 1765 – “to fill with people” in Parini.[11]
Meanings
Verb
- (transitive) To populate a place by settling there or sending people to live there; by extension, to stock with animals or plants: popolare un laghetto di carpe.[6][5][12][15]
- (transitive) To inhabit, to live in a place: Popoli antichi popolavano queste valli.[6][13][1]
- (transitive) To crowd, to fill: I turisti popolano il centro.[6][12][15]
- (popolarsi) To become inhabited or populous; to fill up with people.[5][12][14]
Word family
- popolamento
- popolazione
- ripopolare
- spopolare
- sovrappopolare
- popolatore
Related words
Usage notes
DELI numbers the two words the other way round, with the verb first.[11] The adjective's superlative is popolarissimo.[1][19]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
- ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 869
- ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3017
- ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
- ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
- ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
- ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 873
- ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
- ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
- ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Popolare.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/popolare. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.
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