roba

Forms

roba f (plural robe)^[1] The form robba, used from the 14th to the 16th century, is still Umbrian, Aretine, Cortonese, Lazian and southern.^[2][3] There was also Old Italian rubba.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *rauba (“booty; armour; garment”), a Germanic word that meant both the spoils of war and the clothes taken as spoils.^[5][6][7][8] Nocentini calls the source West Germanic, Wiktionary posits Vulgar Latin rauba from Frankish or Gothic, and Zaccaria and Körting start from Old High German roub, modern German Raub “robbery”.^{[6][1][9][10]} The ultimate source is Proto-Germanic *raubaz.^[1] The same word gave French robe, Occitan rauba, Catalan roba, Spanish ropa and Portuguese roupa, and, from the related verb Italian has rubare.^[6][11][12] The English cognates are robe (through French) and reave.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the northern Parafrasi del Decalogo of the second half of the 13th century, for what one owns or needs to live; the GDLI quotes it: “n'à aquistata la roba con sudore” (they acquired the goods for us with sweat).^[5][4] A Florentine text of 1291 has roba for a complete suit of clothes, and Bono Giamboni uses it before 1292 for spoils taken from the enemy.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Dante's “lo villanello a cui la roba manca” (the peasant who lacks provisions) shows the sense “food, supplies” before 1321.^[5][4] Boccaccio uses roba for any material object (1348–1353), and for a garment in his lives of the Fathers.^[5] Through the centuries the word kept its general sense of “goods, possessions”, as in Verga's “non aveva altro che la sua roba” (he had nothing but his property).^[13][14]

The sense “fabric” is recorded in 1939–1940 and “merchandise” in 1959.^[5] The slang sense “drugs” translates English stuff.^[15][16] Robivecchi “junk dealer” comes from robe vecchie, in the Judaeo-Roman form robbi vecchi.^[6][5] French robe took from Italian the expression de bonne robe “of good quality” (1552).^[17]

Timeline

• Second half of the 13th century – The Parafrasi del Decalogo uses roba for possessions.^[5]
• 1291 – A Florentine text uses it for a suit of clothes.^[5][7]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for provisions.^[5]
• 1536 – Pietro Aretino uses robbone, a long gown.^[5]
• 1552 – French de bonne robe is recorded.^[17]
• About 1793 – Robivecchi is first recorded.^[6]
• 1939–1940 – The sense “fabric” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Things, stuff, any object or objects: Di chi è questa roba sul tavolo?^[7][8][18]
2. The material something is made of: Di che roba è fatta questa borsa?^[7][8]
3. One's things, personal belongings: Prendi la tua roba e vattene.^[7][18]
4. Possessions, property, wealth: Ha lasciato tutta la sua roba ai figli.^[7][14][19]
5. Furniture and household goods.^[7][19]
6. Food and drink: roba da mangiare.^[7][8]
7. clothes, clothing; linen: roba da stirare.^[7][18][1]
8. Fabric, cloth.^[7][18]
9. merchandise, goods: roba usata.^[8][18][19]
10. (colloquial) A matter, business: Sono robe che non ti interessano.^[14][19]
11. (slang) drugs.^[14][19][1]

Word family

• robivecchi
• robone
• robaccia
• robetta

Related words

• rubare
• French robe
• Spanish ropa

Usage notes

Roba da matti! and roba da chiodi! express amazement at something absurd.^[7][14][16] Roba da camera, a dressing gown, is a calque of French robe de chambre.^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3272
3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 846
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, 1097
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
18. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
19. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana