regalo

Forms

regalo m (plural regali)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish regalo, the noun of regalar (“to give presents; to entertain”).^[2][3][4][5] The Spanish origin is shown by the late appearance of the family, from the 16th century, and by contemporaries: Francesco Panigarola, who died in 1594, mocked the gentleman who has spent four days in Spain and filled their speech with the verb, and Alessandro Tassoni called it a word of current use taken from Spanish.^[2][5] The noun first appears in Italian before the verb regalare (1598).^[2][4]

The origin of the Spanish word is disputed.^[2][6] DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT follow the view that regalar is old and of French origin: Nocentini derives it from French régaler (“to offer a feast”), from galer (“to make merry”) with re-, the family of gala.^[2][3][4] DELI adds that Zaccaria may have confused the Spanish verb meaning “to give gifts” with its homonym meaning “to live merrily”.^[2] Others, from DEI to Zingarelli, Gabrielli and Devoto, derive the Spanish word from Latin rēgālis (“royal”), from rēx (“king”), as a gift due to the king.^[7][6][8][9] Wiktionary allows French régal beside the Spanish word.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Agnolo Firenzuola, before 1543, in the sense “what is given as a present”.^[2][4][10] In his Discorsi degli animali a man who has nothing left must still serve “a' regali della corte” (for the presents of the court).^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word also meant pomp and splendour, and kind treatment, senses now obsolete.^[7][5][6] It still felt new to Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, who wrote that the academicians could not bear to hear new words such as “regali, viglietti, stipi, gabinetti, bauli”.^[2][12] Tommaseo still noted that it was not an old word in Italy.^[11]

Phrases such as fare un regalo (1872) and dare in regalo (1891) appear in the dictionaries of the 19th century, with the figurative sense of something pleasing, often ironical (bel regalo!).^[2][6] Later it came to mean, by hyperbole, anything sold very cheaply, and it is used after a noun as an invariable adjective, as in confezione regalo.^[4][13][14] English borrowed regalo (from Italian, Spanish or Portuguese) in 1622, for a choice gift of food or drink or an elegant entertainment; it is now rare.^[10]

Timeline

• Before 1543 – Agnolo Firenzuola uses regalo.^[2][4]
• 1570 – Spanish regalo is first recorded.^[4]
• 1598 – The verb regalare appears in John Florio's dictionary.^[2][4]
• 1622 – English regalo is first recorded.^[10]
• 1872 – Tommaseo records fare un regalo and the sense “something pleasing”.^[2]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records dare in regalo.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gift, a present: something given as a sign of affection, friendship or thanks: Per la laurea le hanno fatto un regalo bellissimo.^[4][13][14]
2. (figurative) A great pleasure or favour; also ironical, of something unwelcome: Il tuo arrivo è stato un regalo inatteso.^[4][13][14]
3. (hyperbolic) Something sold so cheaply that it seems given away: A quel prezzo la bicicletta è un regalo.^[4][13][6]
4. (law) regalo d'uso: a customary gift, which in law is not a donation.^[13][6]
5. (obsolete) Pomp, splendour.^[6]

Adjective

1. (invariable, after a noun) Suitable as a gift, or very cheap: pacco regalo, prezzo regalo.^[4][14][15]

Word family

• regalino
• regaletto
• regalone

Related words

• regalare
• gala
• Spanish regalo
• French régal

Usage notes

Regalo is the general word;^[6][14] presente is less common and suggests a small gift, and dono and omaggio are its synonyms.^[6][14] Regalo is also the first person singular present of regalare.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 829
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3222
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ 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 e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana