ressa

Forms

ressa f (plural resse)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian rezza and Old Italian rexa.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rixa (“quarrel, brawl”), crossed with pressa (“pressure, throng”), which explains the open /ɛ/ of the stressed vowel;^{[4][5][6][7][8]} C. Salvioni proposed the crossing in 1899.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Nocentini sees the influence of the same word also in the change of meaning from “quarrel” to “a pressing crowd”.^[5] The TLIO doubts the explanation: the crossing is convincing only if one starts from the sense “crowd”, which is not recorded before the 18th century.^[2] It is the popular form, and rissa is the learned doublet.^[9][1] Portuguese reixa continues the same Latin word.^[5][8]

De Vaan derives the Latin word perhaps from an s-present Proto-Indo-European *h₁reiḱ-s- (“to break, fight”), and compares Ancient Greek ἐρείκω (ereíkō, “to break, tear”).^[10] Nocentini analyses it with a suffix ⟨-s-⟩ and makes the same Greek comparison.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Nocentini date the first record to about 1225, in the sense of a quarrel.^[11][5] The TLIO's first text is Bono Giamboni's Vizi e Virtudi (before 1292, Florentine), which defines ressa as ill will between people related by blood: ressa è una malavoglienza d'animo tra coloro che sono congiunti di sangue.^[2][12][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian ressa meant discord or a quarrel, and by extension a tumult.^[2] In legal texts it also named an agreement among several parties to profit at the expense of others or against the rules.^[2] F. Sacchetti, before 1400, uses it for a brawl: Qual gitta la berretta, e viene a ressa.^[4][13]

From the 15th century the phrase fare ressa meant to press someone with insistent requests;^[3][13] Burchiello's kites facean gran ressa around the new doctor, and Caro writes Voi mi faceste una gran ressa to be written to.^[3][13] In 1698 G. Ottonelli, writing under the name of A. Tassoni, examined the word's various senses in his notes on the Crusca dictionary.^[4]

The modern sense, a crowd of people pushing and shoving, is first recorded in 1804 by D'Alberti, and it is missing from the Tommaseo–Bellini of 1872.^[4][9] The older senses of quarrel and insistent request are now archaic.^[11][14]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – The word is first recorded, in the sense of a quarrel.^[11][5][14]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ressa in Vizi e Virtudi.^[2]
• Before 1400 – F. Sacchetti uses ressa for a brawl.^[4]
• 1698 – G. Ottonelli discusses the senses of ressa.^[4]
• 1804 – D'Alberti records the sense “pushing crowd”.^[4][9]
• 1899 – C. Salvioni explains the vowel by a crossing with pressa.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A crowd of people pressing and pushing, a crush: Davanti alla biglietteria c'era una ressa di turisti.^{[11][15][9][12]}
2. (archaic) A violent quarrel, a brawl.^[11][15][9]
3. (archaic) An insistent or importunate request.^[11][15][9]

Related words

• rissa
• pressa
• Latin rixa

Usage notes

The common phrase is fare ressa, to crowd and push.^[11][16]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
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, p. 15, 883
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3233
7. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 834
8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana