Etymologically
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ricco

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Pronunciation

Forms

ricco (feminine ricca, masculine plural ricchi, feminine plural ricche, superlative ricchissimo)[1] Old Italian also wrote rico, and the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio has riccu.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Lombardic *rīhhi (“powerful”), which wholly replaced the Latin dīves (“rich”).[3][4][5][6][7][8] The old sense “powerful” survives in Old French and in Chiaro Davanzati.[3] Arrigo Castellani (1985), quoted by DELI, preferred an earlier loan of the 4th or 5th century, either West Germanic *rīki or Gothic 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (reiks), in that original sense.[3] DEI leaves open whether the word is Lombardic or Frankish *rīki, like French riche and Occitan ric.[8] Nocentini derives the French word from Frankish and Spanish rico from Gothic, while Meyer-Lübke takes the Spanish and Portuguese words from Occitan or Catalan.[4][9] The form Medieval Latin ricus appears in charters of the 11th and 12th centuries.[10]

The Lombardic word is the same as Old High German rīhhi, modern German reich, from Proto-Germanic *rīkijaz.[4][1] Nocentini traces it to a Germanic *rīk- (“lord, ruler”), taken from Proto-Celtic *rīg-, which corresponds to Latin rēx (“king”).[4] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”).[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is riccu in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio, of the end of the 12th century: the saint's father “was rich and very powerful” (foe riccu e multu potentissimu).[3][2] The form ricco follows in Bono Giamboni before 1292, and around 1300 the Italian Albertano defines it: “he is rich who has as much property as suffices him to live generously”.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “well supplied with something” is recorded in the 14th century, in Fazio degli Uberti, and “precious, of great value” in Petrarch (1374).[3] The Novellino already uses the word for what is showy or luxurious, and in 1600–1603 it describes things that bring wealth or a good income.[3] John Florio (1563) speaks of piombo ricco, lead rich in silver, the first of the technical senses for a substance with a high proportion of an element.[3] The noun il ricco, “the rich man”, is dated by DELI to a collection of Tuscan proverbs of 1853.[3][12]

Ricchezza is recorded before 1250, in Frederick II, formed with the Latin suffix -itia;[3] ricchezza mobile, income from capital and work as opposed to land and buildings, dates from 1798.[3] Popular sayings include chi ha la sanità è ricco e non lo sa, health is the greatest wealth.[6] DEI notes that the Dalmatian word rec was adapted from Venetian rico.[8]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – Riccu appears in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.[3]
  • Before 1250 – Frederick II has ricchezza.[3]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni has the form ricco.[3]
  • End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses it for “sumptuous”.[3]
  • 1374 – Petrarch uses it for “precious”.[3]
  • 1563 – John Florio writes of piombo ricco, lead rich in silver.[3]
  • 1798 – Ricchezza mobile appears in the acts of the Cisalpine assemblies.[3]
  • 1853 – The noun ricco is recorded in a collection of Tuscan proverbs.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. rich, wealthy, having more money and goods than most, the opposite of povero: Suo nonno era un ricco commerciante di stoffe.[5][6][12][1] (colloquial) Ricco sfondato means extremely rich.[5][13]
  2. Of a country or city, prosperous, economically developed.[5][6][13]
  3. Abundantly supplied with something, with di: una regione ricca di vigneti; in chemistry, containing a high proportion of an element or compound: Le noci sono ricche di grassi.[5][14][13][1]
  4. (figurative) Endowed with qualities or gifts: un insegnante ricco di esperienza; of a text or a life, full: un'estate ricca di avvenimenti.[5][12]
  5. Large, substantial; also bringing wealth: un ricco premio, un mestiere ricco.[5][6][12][14]
  6. Costly, luxurious, sumptuous: una sala ricca di stucchi e dorature.[5][6][12]
  7. Of land, fertile; of vegetation, luxuriant.[5][14][13]
  8. Of clothing, ample, full: un cappotto ricco e morbido.[14][13]

Noun

  1. A rich person, i ricchi, the rich: Le tasse dovrebbero pesare di più sui ricchi.[5][12][13][1]

Word family

  • ricchezza
  • arricchire
  • arricchimento
  • riccone
  • riccamente
  • straricco
  • re
  • German reich
  • French riche
  • Spanish rico

Usage notes

Set phrases include nuovo ricco (a newly rich person, a parvenu), rima ricca (rich rhyme) and miscela ricca (a fuel mixture with too little air).[5][13] The augmentative riccone is used only as a noun.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 59
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3247
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
  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 c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli