Etymologically
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ritardo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 20:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /riˈtar.do/[1]

Forms

ritardo m (plural ritardi)[1]

Etymology

It is a noun formed from the verb ritardare “to delay”.[2][3][4][5] The verb, recorded from 1282, is a learned word, borrowed from Latin retardō (“to delay, hold back”), from tardō (“to delay”) with the prefix re-, “to delay further”.[2][3] The same Latin verb gave French retarder and Spanish retardar.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Lorenzo de' Medici, before 1492, with the sense “the act of delaying”: in his Simposio a man “stopped his pace and made a delay” (fermò il suo passo, e fe' ritardo).[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

From the 17th century the noun is used for arriving or doing something after the set time, and for the length of that delay.[7] Tommaseo regarded essere in ritardo as a French turn of phrase.[6] In music ritardo is the suspension, a note of a chord prolonged into the next one, explained by Giovanni Battista Martini in 1774.[2]

The 20th century added riguadagnare il ritardo, to make up lost time (1939–1940), the sense “slowing down” (1939–1940) and ritardo mentale, slowed intellectual development (1973).[2] In pharmacology ritardo is used after a noun as an invariable adjective for slow-release preparations.[8][9][10]

Timeline

  • 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses the verb ritardare.[2][3]
  • Before 1492 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses ritardo.[2]
  • 1774 – Giovanni Battista Martini uses it for the musical suspension.[2]
  • 1939–1940 – Palazzi records riguadagnare il ritardo.[2]
  • 1973 – Ritardo mentale is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A delay: being later than expected or agreed: Ci scusiamo per il ritardo della consegna.[4][11][8][1]
  2. The length of a delay: Il volo è partito con un'ora di ritardo.[4][11][10]
  3. Hesitation, delay in acting: Bisogna intervenire senza ritardo.[4][11][9]
  4. Slowing down, lag.[4][8][10]
  5. (music) A suspension: one or more notes of a chord held into the following chord.[4][11][10]
  6. (psychology) Ritardo mentale: intellectual development below what is normal for a person's age.[11][8][1]
  7. (pharmacology, invariable adjective) Slow-release: un farmaco ritardo.[4][8][9]

Word family

  • ritardista

Usage notes

In ritardo means late: essere in ritardo, arrivare in ritardo.[11][10][1] Ritardo di marea in geography is the interval between the moon's passing the meridian and high tide.[11][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 922
  8. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ 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