ridotto

Forms

ridotto (feminine ridotta, masculine plural ridotti, feminine plural ridotte, superlative ridottissimo)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian redutto, Old Italian ridutto and Old Italian reducto.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Italian ridurre (“to bring back; to reduce”): its past participle, which continues Latin reductus, the participle of redūcō (“to lead back”).^{[2][5][6][7][1]} The old forms with -u- keep the Latin vowel.^[3] The noun is the participle used as a noun, for a place where people withdraw or gather.^[5][8][7]

In the military sense the Italian noun went into French redoute (1569), reshaped after redouter (“to fear”).^[9][10] French passed it on to English redoubt around 1600 and to German Redoute.^[9][11] Spanish reducto and Portuguese reduto also come from Italian.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is the older: Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses it for a sheltered place where one takes refuge.^[2][9] The participle appears as redutto in Iacopone da Todi, before 1306, in the sense “brought to a certain state”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian a ridotto was a meeting place, often a loggia or a room in a palace where citizens met for talk, business and play;^[4][13] Malispini speaks of il ridotto della città.^[4][13] The merchants' halls of the Venetians, Genoese and Pisans in the East were also called ridotti.^[7] Petrarch's mio dolce ridutto is a refuge.^[8][7]

Guicciardini, before 1540, uses the word for a defensive work inside a fortification; a gaming house is recorded in 1640, and the foyer of a theatre in 1771, in Pietro Chiari.^[2] English borrowed the gaming sense as ridotto (1722), German had Ridotto in 1838, and French redoute meant a place for balls and parties, especially in Venice, from 1752.^[9] In modern Italian the adjective is mostly “reduced, smaller than normal”, as in prezzo ridotto and scartamento ridotto, narrow gauge.^[14][15]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the noun for a place of refuge.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone has the participle redutto.^[2]
• First half of the 14th century – The form ridotto appears in Donato degli Albanzani.^[2]
• 1537 – The comedy Ingannati uses it for an entrance hall.^[2]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses it for a fortification.^[2]
• 1569 – French redoute is first recorded.^[9]
• 1640 – Oudin records it for a gaming house.^[2]
• 1722 – English ridotto is recorded.^[9]
• 1771 – Pietro Chiari uses it for the foyer of a theatre.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Brought into a new, usually worse state, with a or in: ridotto in miseria, una città ridotta in macerie.^[14][3][15]
2. reduced: smaller than normal or than before in size, number or value: un'edizione ridotta, un abbonamento ridotto.^[14][8][3]
3. Of a ticket or fare, sold at a discount.^[14][16]
4. (chemistry) Having undergone reduction: ferro ridotto.^[14][8][15]
5. (mathematics) Simplified: frazione ridotta.^[3][15]
6. (linguistics) Of a vowel, shorter or weaker than the others of the system.^[8][3]

Noun

1. The foyer of a theatre, where the audience gathers in the intervals; also a smaller hall beside the main one.^{[8][3][15][7]}
2. (military) A redoubt, same as ridotta.^[8][3][15]
3. (literary, dated) A habitual meeting place, or the gathering itself; also a refuge.^[8][3][15]
4. (naval, historical) The central armoured part of a battleship.^[8][15]
5. A reduced-price ticket: due interi e un ridotto.^[14]

Word family

• ridotta
• ultraridotto

Related words

• ridurre
• Latin reductus
• French redoute

Usage notes

As a participle it belongs to ridurre;^[15][17] mal ridotto or ridotto male means in a bad state.^[15][17] An obsolete ridotto “fear” is a separate loan of Old French redot.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ 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. 16, 204
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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)
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 f Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 206