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principessa

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word principessa

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1294, Brunetto Latini
Ultimate origin
Latin princeps
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin princeps
French prince
Italian principe
Italian principessa

Pronunciation

  • /prin.t͡ʃiˈpes.sa/[1]

Forms

principessa f (plural principesse)[1] Old forms include prencessa and prenzessa, in Giovanni Villani.[2] GDLI also records prencipessa and prinzipessa.[3]

Etymology

It is from Italian principe (“prince”) + -essa, the feminine of the noun.[4][5][6][7][1] Körting reconstructed Latin *principissa behind it and its Romance cognates French princesse and Spanish princesa.[8] Wiktionary compares Sicilian principissa.[1]

The noun principe is a learned word from Latin princeps (“first; chief”), properly “the one who takes the first place”, a compound of prīmus (“first”) and capiō (“to take”).[9][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to before 1294, and Tommaseo quotes Brunetto Latini's verse: E vidi là d'intorno / Dimorare a soggiorno / Cinque gran principesse (“And I saw dwelling around there five great princesses”).[4][2] Nocentini puts the word in the 13th century and Zingarelli about 1261, while DELI's first record is later, Andrea da Barberino before 1431.[5][10][9]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini also used the word figuratively, calling invention principessa di tutte l'arti (“princess of all the arts”).[2] Andrea da Barberino's romances count queens, duchesses and prinzipesse among the widows of the battle of Aspromonte, and Torquato Tasso praised the learning of the princesses of Ferrara.[3] In Manzoni a future abbess is called the principessa of her convent.[10]

The figurative sense of a woman living in luxury, or one who gives herself airs, is common today, as in vivere come una principessa.[4][6][10][11] For the diminutive principessina DELI gives Giovan Battista Casti (1802), but Nocentini dates it before 1294.[9][5] English used principessa for an Italian princess from 1707, and German from 1838.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1261 – Zingarelli's date of first record.[10]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses principesse.[4][2]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani writes prenzessa and prencessa.[2]
  • Before 1431 – Andrea da Barberino uses the form prinzipesse.[9][3]
  • 1707 – English principessa is first recorded.[12]
  • 1802 – Giovan Battista Casti uses principessina.[9]
  • 1838 – German Principessa is recorded.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. princess, the female ruler of a principality.[4][6][7][10]
  2. The wife or daughter of a prince: La principessa sposò il figlio del duca.[4][6][7][1]
  3. The daughter of a sovereign.[4][6][7]
  4. (figurative) A woman who lives in luxury, or one who acts haughty and refined: Si comporta come una principessa e non lava mai i piatti.[4][6][10]

Word family

  • principessina
  • principe
  • principato
  • principesco
  • French princesse

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
Cite this entry

“Principessa.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/principessa. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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