Etymologically
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pure

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Pronunciation

Forms

pure (invariable; often shortened to pur before a consonant)[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pūrē (“purely, simply; fully”), the adverb of pūrus (“clean, pure”).[5][6][1] Nocentini explains the ending as the old instrumental case of the adjective.[6] The adverb survives also in Friulian pur, Romansh pür and Old Occitan pur “only; yet”.[6][7] De Vaan traces the adjective to a Proto-Indo-European *ph₂ú-ro- (“cleansed”).[8]

From “purely, simply” the word came to mean “only” and then took on copulative and adversative senses, “also” and “yet”.[9][6] purché “provided that” keeps the old sense “only”, while purtroppo “unfortunately” first meant “even too much”.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb is dated to the end of the 12th century, the date of the compound purché in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.[6][5][2] In 13th-century Florentine it meant “only”.[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used pure for “purely”, “only” and “always, still”: Dante's Virgil asks “Che pur guate?” (what are you still staring at?).[10][2][11] The concessive sense “even if, although” is found in the 13th century in Chiaro Davanzati, the adversative “nevertheless” in Giordano da Pisa before 1311, and the adverb “also” in Domenico Cavalca before 1342.[5] From the same period comes eppure “and yet” (before 1311).[6]

In modern Italian pure is chiefly “also, too”, and in commands it softens or grants a request (entra pure).[2][3] The forms purtroppo “unfortunately” (before 1694), purchessia “whatever” (1882) and purtuttavia “nevertheless” (before 1907) grew from it.[5][6]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – Purché appears in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.[5][6]
  • 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses pure in the sense “even if”.[5]
  • Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for “nevertheless”, eppure is recorded.[5][6]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for “also”.[5]
  • Before 1536 – Marin Sanudo writes pur troppo “even too much”.[5]
  • Before 1694 – Paolo Segneri uses purtroppo for “unfortunately”.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Also, too, as well: Ho invitato Luca e pure sua sorella.[2][3][1]
  2. Even: Pure la domenica devo alzarmi presto?[2][3]
  3. In commands and requests, adds permission or encouragement: please, go ahead, by all means: Siediti pure.[2][12][1]
  4. Adds emphasis or resignation: Bisognerà pure decidersi.[2][12]
  5. (literary, archaic) Only, merely: non pur “not only”.[2][13]
  6. (literary, archaic) Still, continually.[2][13]

Conjunction

  1. Yet, nevertheless: Non ha studiato, pure ha superato l'esame.[2][4][1]
  2. Even though, although (usually pur with a gerund, or sia pure): Pur conoscendo la strada, si è perso.[14][13][1]

Word family

Usage notes

Pur di with an infinitive means “as long as, so as to”: pur di finire “just to get it finished”.[14] The accented purè “mashed potatoes” is a different word, from French purée.[9][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3155
  11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier