Etymologically
Log in

recente

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Italian word recente

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1292, Bono Giamboni
Borrowed from
Latin recens
Ultimate origin
Latin recēns
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin recens
English recent
Italian recente

Pronunciation

  • /reˈt͡ʃɛn.te/[1]
  • Regional: /reˈt͡ʃen.te/[1]

Forms

recente m or f by sense (plural recenti, superlative recentissimo)[1] The older form ricente was common in the 13th and 14th centuries.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recēns (“fresh; new, recent”), a learned word.[5][6][7][8] DEI calls it probably literary: the Latin word has popular outcomes across Romance, but not in the Italian dialects;[2][1] Wiktionary adds that the older form ricente may be inherited.[2][1] The Latin word survives in Romanian rece (“cold”), Friulian rezint, Engadine argèint, Old French roisent, Spanish recién and Portuguese recente, and was borrowed as French récent.[9][10][2] Its derivative Latin recentō (“to refresh”) lives on in the dialects, and in French rincer (“to rinse”).[5][9]

The Latin word is probably a compound of re- (“again, back”) and Proto-Italic *kent(i)- (“young, first”), from Proto-Indo-European *ken-t- (“young, new”), related to Ancient Greek καινός (kainós, “new”) and Sanskrit कनीन (kanī́na, “young”).[11][1] Nocentini compares the root with Old Irish cinim (“to spring forth”).[6] DELI calls the origin unclear.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Bono Giamboni, before 1292, with the sense “done or happened a short time ago”;[5][7][8] GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date the word before 1313.[5][7][8] Giamboni writes of the fallen cities of Spain that console la nostra ricente miseria, “our recent misery”.[12]

Semantic evolution

The early writers also used the word in the Latin sense “fresh”: Boccaccio speaks of le recenti ombre de' pini, “the cool shade of the pines”, and Tommaseo records ricente acqua and pan recente, fresh water and fresh bread.[5][7][3] Dante has piaghe … recenti e vecchie, “wounds new and old”.[3] The sense “fresh” is now obsolete.[13][14]

In the periods of history and archaeology recente marks the latest phase of a period, as in miceneo recente.[7][8][15] Derivatives followed: the adverb recentemente in Tasso (before 1595), recentissime, the latest news of the night, in Nievo (1857–1858), and the Latinism recenziore, “more recent”, in Roberto Longhi (1921–1922).[5]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ricente.[5][12]
  • Before 1313 – GRADIT's and Devoto–Oli's date for recente.[7][8]
  • Before 1595 – Tasso uses recentemente.[5]
  • 1857–1858 – Nievo uses recentissime for the latest news.[5]
  • 1921–1922 – Roberto Longhi uses recenziore.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. recent: that happened or was made a short time ago: È una scoperta molto recente.[7][8][15]
  2. Belonging to the phase of a period closest to the present; late: il Paleolitico recente.[7][8][13]
  3. (obsolete) Fresh.[7][13]

Word family

  • recentemente
  • recentissime
  • recenziore
  • recentazione

Usage notes

Di recente means “recently, not long ago”: L'ho rivisto di recente.[8][13][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3217
  3. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Recente.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/recente. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·