quindena

Forms

quindena f (plural quindene)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Medieval Latin quindena (“fortnight”), from Latin quindēnī (“fifteen each”).^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The Latin distributive is a shortened form of quīnī (“five each”) dēnī (“ten each”), and belongs to quindecim (“fifteen”).^[6][4][7] Wiktionary explains the sense “fortnight” from the Roman and medieval habit of counting inclusively.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Battisti and Alessio date the word to the 14th century, in church use, for a period of fifteen days, usually from Palm Sunday to the Sunday after Easter.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th and 15th centuries it also meant a fixed amount of water for irrigation.^[2] In Tommaseo's time it was heard mainly of the Easter fortnight, when parish priests were busiest, and also of any fifteen days of devotion.^[8] De Mauro dates it to 1750 and marks it obsolete.^[3] The GDLI also marks it as out of use, with quindicina as the usual word.^[7]

Timeline

• 14th century – the first records, in church use.^[2]
• 14th–15th century – the sense “share of irrigation water”.^[2]
• 1750 – De Mauro's date for the word.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) A fortnight, a period of fifteen days; a quindicina.^[3][1][7]
2. (Christianity) The period from Palm Sunday to the first Sunday after Easter.^[3][5][1]
3. (Christianity) A devotion kept for fifteen days, like a novena.^[3][4][5]

Related words

• quindici
• quindicina
• novena
• Latin quindecim

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3180
3. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ 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, 154
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET