Etymologically
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prezioso

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Pronunciation

  • /pretˈt͡sjo.zo/, /pretˈt͡sjo.so/[1]

Forms

prezioso (feminine preziosa, masculine plural preziosi, feminine plural preziose, superlative preziosissimo)[1] Old forms include pretioso, precioso, presioso and pregioso, the last influenced by pregio.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin pretiōsus (“costly, of great value”), from pretium (“price, value”).[2][5][6][1] The Latin adjective is formed with the suffix -ōsus.[1] Its counterparts are French précieux and Spanish precioso, and the Italian noun of the same root is prezzo.[5]

Sabatini and DEI trace the sense “affected, over-refined” to French précieux, used of the 17th-century précieuses.[7][8] De Vaan derives the Latin noun from a Proto-Italic noun meaning “exchange value”, built on a preposition Proto-Indo-European *preti (“against”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record, in the form pretioso, is in the Canticle of the Creatures of Francis of Assisi, about 1224, with the sense “of great value”.[2][6] The form prezioso is in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250, who writes that every jewel that is rarer is held more preziosa.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word described costly things, precious stones and fabrics, and by extension whatever is valued for its rarity or usefulness.[3][10] Boccaccio has preziose pietre, precious stones, and the phrase metallo prezioso for gold, silver and platinum is old.[10]

The sense “affected, overrefined, hard to get” is recorded in 1713, and the noun preziosi, “jewels, valuables”, in 1922.[2] DEI records a noun use for the French poets of the 17th century, and Croce used preziosismo for that movement in 1910 and for affected refinement in general in 1936.[8][2] In familiar language fare il prezioso is said of someone who makes himself scarce.[6][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1224 – Francis of Assisi uses pretioso in the Canticle of the Creatures.[2]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini has the form prezioso.[2]
  • 1305–1306 – Preziositade “preciousness” appears in Giordano da Pisa.[2]
  • 1713 – The sense “affected, over-refined” is first recorded.[2]
  • 1910 – Croce uses preziosismo for the French literary movement.[2]
  • 1922 – The noun preziosi “jewels” is first recorded in Zingarelli's dictionary.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. precious, of high price or value: un anello prezioso, metalli preziosi.[6][11][7]
  2. Valuable because rare, important or useful: Ogni goccia d'acqua è preziosa nel deserto.[6][11][12]
  3. (figurative) Of great moral, practical or emotional worth: Il tuo consiglio mi è stato prezioso.[6][11][7]
  4. Of great cultural, historical or scientific importance: un codice prezioso.[6][4]
  5. (figurative) Of style, refined or affected, studied: versi preziosi.[6][11][12]
  6. (colloquial) Of a person, who makes himself scarce or hard to get: farsi prezioso.[6][11][4]

Noun

  1. (chiefly plural) A jewel, a valuable object: una cassaforte piena di preziosi.[6][11][4]
  2. (colloquial) A person who makes himself scarce: fare il prezioso.[7][12]
  3. (literature) A follower of 17th-century French préciosité.[7][13]

Word family

  • preziosità
  • preziosismo
  • preziosamente
  • impreziosire
  • semiprezioso

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include pietra preziosa (precious stone), metallo prezioso (precious metal) and, in Catholic devotion, Preziosissimo Sangue (the Most Precious Blood).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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. 14, 319
  4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3077
  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 Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli