Etymologically
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principessa

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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