quaranta

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin quarranta, a spoken form recorded in inscriptions, for classical Latin quadrāgintā (“forty”).^[2][3][1] GRADIT and Treccani give the late form as *quadranta, with the stress moved back.^[4][5] Devoto explained the change by the complete loss of /g/ before a front vowel, the stress moving back, and the absorption of the resulting diphthong into /a/, as in prete; the reduction of /dr/ to /r/ or /rr/ looks northern.^[6]

The same numeral is French quarante, Occitan caranta, Catalan coranta, Spanish cuarenta and Portuguese quarenta.^[2] Meyer-Lübke adds Dalmatian kuaranta, Sardinian baranta and Friulian cuarante.^[7]

Like the other Latin tens, the numeral is formed from quadra-, the stem of quattuor (“four”), and -gintā (“-ty, tens”).^[2][8][9] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwr̥dḱomt (“four tens”), the source also of Ancient Greek τετρώκοντα (tetrṓkonta).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quaranta appears as a place name in the Medieval Latin of Calabria in 1199.^[9] The first Italian record of the numeral is in a Florentine document of 1211;^[10][9][3] DELI's first literary record is the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, where a count's son is already about forty years old.^[10][9][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian i Quaranta also named a council or magistracy of forty members; such councils sat at Bologna and Orvieto, and Venice had its quarantie.^[10][5] The derivative quarantena first meant a period of forty days (14th century) and then the isolation of people or goods suspected of carrying disease (1630); DELI says the institution spread from Venice, which set up a maritime quarantine in 1403.^[9] Meyer-Lübke instead took Italian quarantena from French quarantaine.^[7]

Quarantotto “forty-eight” came to mean an uproar at Milan, in memory of the Five Days of 1848, while the older phrase mandare a carte quarantotto first meant “to send to the devil”.^[9] Sailors call the latitudes around forty degrees i ruggenti quaranta, a calque of English roaring forties.^[5] In tennis quaranta is the third point won in a game.^[4]

Timeline

• 1199 – Quaranta appears as a place name in Medieval Latin from Calabria.^[9]
• 1211 – The numeral is recorded in a Florentine document.^[10]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses it.^[9]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses the ordinal quarantesimo.^[9]
• 14th century – Quarantena “a period of forty days” appears in the Rule of Altopascio.^[9]
• 1403 – Venice introduces a maritime quarantine.^[9]
• 1630 – Quarantena is used for isolation against contagion in Tuscan decrees.^[9]
• 1848 – The Five Days of Milan give quarantotto its sense “uproar”.^[9]

Meanings

Numeral

1. forty: four times ten (40, XL): un viaggio di quaranta minuti.^[4][11][1]
2. With the noun understood, especially years of age: ha passato i quaranta.^[4][11]
3. (hyperbolic) Many, a great many: te l'ho detto quaranta volte.^[11][12]
4. After a noun, as an ordinal: fortieth: capitolo quaranta.^[4][11]

Noun

1. The number forty, and the sign for it.^[4][11]
2. The year '40 of a century;^[4][11][12] gli anni Quaranta, the forties, especially 1940–1949.^[4][11][12]
3. (tennis) Forty, the third point won in a game.^[4]

Word family

• quarantena
• quarantina
• quarantesimo
• quarantotto
• quarantenne
• quarantennio
• quarantore
• quarantottata
• quarantennale
• quarantia

Related words

• quattro
• quaresima
• Latin quadraginta
• French quarante

Usage notes

Before anni and ore the numeral is elided: quarant'anni, quarant'ore.^[12][13] Set expressions include scala quaranta, a card game like rummy, and i quaranta martiri (the Forty Martyrs).^[13][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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, p. 15, 69
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 356
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana