Etymologically
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principe

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈprin.t͡ʃi.pe/[1]

Forms

principe m (plural principi, feminine principessa, diminutive principino, augmentative principóne)[1] Old forms include Old Italian prencipe, Old Italian principo and Old Italian prencepe.[2][3] The forms Old Italian prence and Old Italian prenze were taken from French or Occitan.[4][5]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin princeps (“first; chief, ruler”), literally “one who takes the first place”, a compound of prīmus (“first”) and the stem of capiō (“to take”).[6][7][8][2] The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *prīzmokaps shortened by syncope.[1] In the Roman Republic it named a leading man, and under the Empire the emperor himself, the first citizen of the state; this sense passed through learned tradition to the western languages.[2][7]

The same word is French prince, the source of German Prinz and of the English word, and Spanish príncipe.[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date the word to the early 13th century.[7][8][9] The GDLI's earliest quotation is the northern poet Uguccione da Lodi, for whom neither re ni emperador nor principo ni dus, king, emperor, prince or duke, can stand against death.[3]

Semantic evolution

Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses the plural for the soldiers of the Roman legion who fought in the second line.[6] Dante applies principe to Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, and in the Convivio (1304–1308) to a man who excels all others.[6] Machiavelli's Il Principe (1513) made the word the name of the ruler of a Renaissance state, and principato the name of the state he ruled.[8][6] The sense “son of a reigning sovereign” is recorded in Pigafetta about 1525.[6]

The adjective principe “first, chief” survives in edizione principe, the first printed edition (1839).[6][2] Principe consorte copies English prince consort, the title given to Prince Albert in 1857.[6] Principe azzurro, “Prince Charming”, seems to be an Italian coinage absent from Grimm and Perrault: DELI suggests, without proof, that it arose with the engagement of Victor Emmanuel of Savoy to Elena of Montenegro in 1896, since blue was the colour of the House of Savoy.[6] English has used principe for an Italian prince since 1835.[10]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Principe is first recorded.[7][8]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for Roman soldiers of the second line.[6]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for someone who excels.[6]
  • 1513 – Machiavelli writes Il Principe.[8][6]
  • About 1525 – Pigafetta uses it for a king's son.[6]
  • 1835 – English principe “Italian prince” is recorded.[10]
  • 1839 – Edizione principe “first edition” is recorded.[6]
  • 1896 – Principe azzurro may date from the engagement of Victor Emmanuel of Savoy.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sovereign or ruler, especially an absolute one: Il principe governava la città con mano di ferro.[8][9][11]
  2. prince: a member of a royal family, especially a sovereign's son, or the ruler of a principality: il principe di Monaco.[8][9][11]
  3. The highest title of nobility, above duke.[8][11]
  4. (figurative) The most eminent member of a group, as in principe del foro “leading barrister”.[8][12][11]
  5. (historical) In ancient Rome, a soldier of the heavy infantry.[8][12]

Adjective

  1. Main, most important: la prova principe dell'accusa.[8][12][13]
  2. First, earliest, as in edizione principe “first edition”.[8][12]

Word family

  • principessa
  • principessina
  • principato
  • principesco
  • principino

Usage notes

Principe azzurro is the ideal husband or lover of fairy tales, principe consorte the husband of a reigning queen, principe ereditario the heir to the throne, and principe della Chiesa a cardinal.[8][9][11] Vivere da principe means to live in luxury.[9][8] The feminine is principessa.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3082
  3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana