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ridicolo

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Pronunciation

  • /riˈdi.ko.lo/[1]

Forms

ridicolo (feminine ridicola, masculine plural ridicoli, feminine plural ridicole)[1] An older, Latinising spelling is ridiculo.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, funny”), a learned word.[5][6][7][8][1] The Latin adjective is formed from rīdeō (“to laugh; to mock”), the source of the inherited ridere, with the suffix -culus.[9][6] Devoto sees in it an old noun of instrument with the suffix *-tlo-, “what causes laughter”, turned into an adjective.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and the TLIO date the first records to the middle of the 14th century, in a Perugian poem and in the Italian Scala del Paradiso, with the sense “laughable”.[5][11] The Scala has Ridicola cosa è a vedere la volpe fra le galline (“It is a laughable thing to see the fox among the hens”).[12] GRADIT's first date is before 1472, in Leon Battista Alberti's grammar.[7]

Semantic evolution

From “laughable” the adjective came to mean “not worth taking seriously, paltry”, of an amount or a reason, by 1585.[5] Guicciardini calls an excuse troppo ridicula, too absurd to accept.[12] The neuter noun il ridicolo, the ridiculous, appears in 1551 in Bernardo Segni, and the phrases cadere nel ridicolo (before 1566, Annibal Caro) and porre or mettere in ridicolo (before 1729, Salvini) followed.[5]

Timeline

  • Mid-14th century – Ridicolo appears in the Scala del Paradiso and in a Perugian poem.[5][11]
  • Before 1472 – Alberti uses it in his grammar.[7]
  • 1551 – Bernardo Segni uses il ridicolo as a noun.[5]
  • Before 1566 – Annibal Caro writes cadere nel ridicolo.[5]
  • 1585 – The sense “paltry, inadequate” is recorded.[5]
  • Before 1729 – Salvini uses porre in ridicolo and mettere in ridicolo.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. ridiculous, laughable, of a person who makes others laugh or mock by being clumsy or odd: Con quel costume sembri ridicolo.[7][2][13]
  2. Of a thing, causing laughter because it is strange, grotesque or clumsy: un'acconciatura ridicola.[7][8]
  3. Paltry, derisory: Gli offrono una paga ridicola.[7][2][13]
  4. absurd, unacceptable: una richiesta ridicola.[7][2][13]

Noun

  1. Only in the singular, the ridiculous side of something, or the state of being an object of mockery: Non coglie il ridicolo della cosa.[7][2][13][4]

Word family

  • ridicolaggine
  • ridicolizzare
  • ridicoleggiare
  • ridicolezza
  • ridicolmente
  • ridicoloso

Usage notes

Common phrases are cadere nel ridicolo (to become ridiculous), mettere in ridicolo (to make fun of), buttarla in ridicolo (to laugh a matter off) and non avere il senso del ridicolo.[7][2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ 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
  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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse