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prima

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Pronunciation

Forms

prima (adverb, invariable; as a noun feminine, plural prime)[2][1] Old forms include Old Italian imprima and the adverb Old Italian primamente.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin prīma, the feminine ablative of Latin prīmus (“first”) used as an adverb.[4][5][6][2] Classical Latin said prīmum or prīmō in this sense;[7] Devoto and Gabrielli think the Late Latin form took its ending from posteā (“afterwards”), its opposite.[8][9]

As a noun (the first class, the opening night, the first gear), the word is the feminine of primo used as a noun, with a feminine noun such as classe, rappresentazione or ora understood.[4][5][2] As the first canonical hour it continues Late Latin prīma of the Church with hōra understood.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the adverb, “earlier, before”, is in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, a statute from the Tuscan mining town of Montieri.[11][2] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it to the first half of the 13th century.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The spatial sense “in front, at a point that comes before” is in Dante, before 1321.[11] Old Italian also used prima for “for the first time”, as in Petrarch's line “ricorro al tempo ch'i' vi vidi prima” (I go back to the time I first saw you), a sense now literary.[2][12] Phrases such as prima che “before” and prima o poi “sooner or later” are fixed early, and the sense “sooner, more quickly” (fare prima) is recorded only in 1965.[11][5]

The noun had religious and technical senses first: the canonical hour of prime at sunrise (in Tommaseo, DELI dates it to 1691), a fencing position (1895) and the musical interval of a unison.[11][13] The opening night of a play is recorded in a Milanese newspaper in 1814, the first gear and the first ascent of a climbing route in 1958.[11] German, Dutch and Norwegian took prima as an adjective “first-rate, excellent”, recorded in German commerce from 1836.[1][14]

Timeline

  • 1219 – The adverb is recorded in the Breve di Montieri.[11]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses prima in a spatial sense.[11]
  • 1691 – The Crusca dictionary records prima as a canonical hour.[11]
  • 1814 – Prima “opening night” in a Milanese newspaper.[11]
  • 1836 – German prima “first-rate” is recorded in commerce.[14]
  • 1895 – Prima as a fencing position.[11]
  • 1958 – Prima as first gear and as a first ascent.[11]
  • 1965 – The sense “sooner, more quickly” is recorded.[11]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. before, earlier, at an earlier time: me l'avevi già detto prima; also as a term of comparison: lavora meno di prima.[2][5][6]
  2. first, in correlation with poi or dopo: prima mangiamo, poi parliamo.[2][5][12]
  3. Sooner, more quickly: in bici si arriva prima.[6][12][9]
  4. At a point that comes before in space: la farmacia è cento metri prima.[2][12][9]
  5. In the first place, firstly: prima perché è tardi, poi perché piove.[2][12]
  6. prima di (preposition), prima che (conjunction): before: prima di cena, prima che arrivino gli ospiti.[5][2][15]

Noun

  1. The first year of a school course: mia figlia fa la prima media.[2][5][6]
  2. First class on a train, plane and the like: un biglietto di prima.[2][5][6]
  3. First gear: metti la prima e parti piano.[2][5][9]
  4. The first performance of a play or opera, or the first showing of a film; premiere.[2][6][15]
  5. (religion) prime, the canonical hour at sunrise.[2][5][6]
  6. (sport) A basic position in fencing, gymnastics and classical dance; in climbing, the first ascent of a route.[2][5][6]
  7. (music) The interval between two notes of the same name in the same octave.[2][6][13]

Word family

  • anteprima
  • dapprima
  • primina

Usage notes

Common phrases are prima o poi (sooner or later), quanto prima (as soon as possible), prima di tutto (first of all) and amici come prima (friends as before).[5][12][15] In football di prima means hitting the ball first time, before it touches the ground.[5][9]

A separate prima “premium, bonus; insurance premium” (recorded in 1829 and 1839) is an adaptation of French prime, itself from English premium.[16][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 804
  4. ^ a b c 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 k l m n 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 h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 345
  9. ^ a b c d e Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3078
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3079