ragazzino

Forms

ragazzino m (plural ragazzini, feminine ragazzina)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian ragazzo + -ino, the diminutive of “ragazzo” “boy”.^[1][2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo's dictionary quotes the word in old texts in the sense of the Latin puer: a servant or attendant of any age, a page, as in a chronicle in which a plot is uncovered through uno ragazzino; by his day this was no longer common.^[4] The GDLI's quotations for “young boy” run from the poet Casti, Foscolo and Giuliani to Piovene and Pasolini, who writes the Roman vocative A regazzì.^[3]

In negative sentences the word stresses maturity: non sono un ragazzino “I am no child”.^[3] It can also be dismissive, for an inexperienced young man, and in colloquial use means a girl's young boyfriend.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little boy, a kid; also a young teenage boy: Due ragazzini giocavano a pallone in cortile.^[5][1][3]
2. (derogatory) An inexperienced young man: In ufficio lo trattano da ragazzino.^[5][3]
3. A teenage boy who is going out with a girl of his age; a young boyfriend.^[5]
4. A child, a son in infancy or boyhood.^[3]

Word family

• ragazzinata
• ragazzinesco

Related words

• ragazzo
• ragazzetto

Usage notes

The feminine is ragazzina.^[1][4] Regional forms are regazzino, and in Rome the vocative regazzì.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 312
4. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET