rendita

Forms

rendita f (plural rendite)^[1] Old and regional forms include renduta, rèndea and riènnita, and rèndedho at Mantua in 1309.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin reddita (“things given back, returns”), the neuter plural of the past participle of reddō (“to give back”), taken into the new verb stem ⟨rend-⟩ of rendere and shaped after vendita.^[5][6][7][8] The Treccani and Gabrielli describe it simply as a formation from the verb on the model of the noun for “sale”.^[9][10] Wiktionary starts from Medieval Latin rendita, recorded in France from 826.^[1]

The ⟨-nd-⟩ of the verb comes from the influence of vendere, prendere or spendere, according to DELI, rather than from dissimilation.^[5][6] The same reshaping is seen in French rente, formed from the verb, and in Occitan renda, Catalan renda and Spanish renta.^[4][11][12] DEI refers to reddito, from the same Latin participle.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The dictionaries date the word to the 13th century.^[6][7][8] DELI's first dated record is in Villani, before 1348, for regular income from property that costs nothing to produce.^[5] Villani speaks of a lord with more than 30,000 marks sterling of rendita a year.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio uses the word in the general sense of what land, goods or savings bring in, between 1348 and 1353: in the Decameron, a family whose rendite could not cover their expenses began to pawn and sell their estates.^[5][3] Machiavelli defines gentlemen as those who live idly and well from the rendite of their lands.^[3] In older usage the word also meant the revenue of the state.^[9]

Financial senses came later: rendita annua “annuity” is recorded in 1872, rendita vitalizia “life annuity” in 1881, and the sense of an irredeemable government bond in 1931, though titoli di rendita are already in Tommaseo.^[5] Economics added rendita fondiaria “ground rent” and rendita di posizione.^[7][13]

German borrowed the word as German Rendite in 1829.^[14][1]

Timeline

• 13th century – The dictionaries' date for the first record.^[6][7][8]
• 1309 – Rèndedho is recorded at Mantua.^[4]
• Before 1348 – Villani uses rendita “income from property”.^[5]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it in the general sense of returns.^[5]
• 1829 – German Rendite is first recorded.^[14]
• 1872 – Rendita annua is recorded in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[5]
• 1881 – Rendita vitalizia is recorded.^[5]
• 1931 – Rendita is used of a government bond in the Enciclopedia italiana.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (economics) Regular income from owning property or capital, without work: Con gli affitti degli appartamenti ha una buona rendita.^[7][8][15]
2. revenue, income in general.^[7][13]
3. (law, finance) An annuity: a periodic payment owed by contract or insurance, and the sum so paid: rendita vitalizia.^[7][8][9]
4. (finance) The interest on an irredeemable government bond, the bond itself, and the irredeemable public debt as a whole.^[7][8][9]
5. (economics) The share of produce due to the owner of land, ground rent: rendita fondiaria.^[7][8]

Word family

• renditiere

Related words

• rendere
• reddito
• vendita
• French rente
• Latin reddō

Usage notes

Vivere di rendita is to live on unearned income without working, and figuratively to live on past merits.^[13][9] Rendita parassitaria is income drawn from a position of privilege, not from production.^[13][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3229
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d 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 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 c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse