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quassù

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word quassù

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1294 Dante More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin *eccum hac,susum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian qua
Italian quassù
From the same root
Italian quaggiù ← qua

Pronunciation

  • /kwasˈsu/[1]
  • Regional: /kwasˈsu/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian qua (“here”) + su (“up”), and was at first spelled with a space between the parts.[2][3][4][5][1] The double /s/ comes from the doubling that the first part causes in the consonant after it.[6] Older forms were Old Italian quassuso and Old Italian qua suso, with the old form Old Italian suso of the second part.[7][8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates qua su to Dante in 1294, meaning “here, in a place higher up than the listener”;[2][4][3] GRADIT and Nocentini date the word to before 1321.[2][4][3] The Paradiso has ciò, che ne appar quassù diverso (“what appears different up here”).[9]

Semantic evolution

The adverb kept its sense of a place above the speaker's listener, used with verbs of rest and motion.[10] Boccaccio has a woman beg che quassù salghi (“that you climb up here”).[10][9] It can also mean a place further north rather than higher: Fagiuoli writes from Florence to a friend in Pisa that he cannot see him quassù in Firenze.[9] The modern dictionaries record this northern sense as an extension, as in “up here in Piedmont”.[4][5][11]

Timeline

  • 1294 – Dante writes qua su.[2][8]
  • Before 1321 – GRADIT's and Nocentini's date for quassù.[4][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. up here, in this high place: Resta quassù con me.[4][5][7][8]
  2. After da or di: from up here: da quassù si vede tutto il lago.[4][8][12]
  3. (by extension) Here in the north, in a place further north than the listener: quassù a Bolzano nevica già.[4][5][7]

Usage notes

Its opposite is quaggiù “down here”;[6][8] Zingarelli also contrasts it with laggiù.[6][8] The spelling qua su in two words is uncommon.[5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  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 e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
Cite this entry

“Quassù.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/quass%C3%B9. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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