Etymologically
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romantico

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Pronunciation

  • /roˈman.ti.ko/[1]

Forms

romantico (feminine romantica, masculine plural romantici, feminine plural romantiche, superlative romanticissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English romantic, probably through French romantique.[2][3][4][5][1] The English adjective is first recorded around 1650–1659 in the sense “improbable, like a story”, then “moving, picturesque”; it was formed on the Old French noun romant, the oblique form of romanz “romance, story in the vernacular” (see romanzo).[2][4][3][6] Nocentini traces the noun further back to the sense “in the manner of the Romans”.[3]

DELI points out that the French noun romantisme and German Romantik were both current at the start of the 19th century and explains the success of the whole Italian family by their joint influence.[2] Nocentini and DEI describe the route: in German romantisch was applied by Wieland and Herder to medieval chivalric poetry and then opposed to klassisch (“classical”);[3][7] Madame de Staël spread the French form in that sense with De l'Allemagne (1810), and the Italian word came into use with the debate it started.[3][7] The French adjective had existed since 1694 in the sense “picturesque”, itself an Anglicism.[7] Prati derives the Italian word directly from French.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from 1814, in the Milanese periodical Lo Spettatore, for a place or scene that stirs vague, melancholy feelings;[2][3] Nocentini also dates the word to 1814.[2][3] The literary sense, “belonging to Romanticism”, follows in 1818, when Giovanni Berchet calls classico and romantico the two adjectives most often heard in Milan.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was at the centre of the quarrel between Classicists and Romantics that followed Madame de Staël's article of 1816.[7] Ludovico di Breme uses romantico as a noun for a follower of the new school in 1816, and Monti, who wrote against the Romantics, uses both noun and adjective before 1828.[2] Tommaseo still gives the old descriptive sense: a luogo romantico is a place of singular charm, such as novels describe, and a passeggiata romantica an outing out of the ordinary.[9]

From the literary movement the word passed to temperament: Carducci (before 1907) calls a person given to fantasy and sentiment un romantico.[2] Today the everyday sense is “sentimental, dreamy, inclined to love and melancholy”, and of places and situations “suited to romance”, as in a candlelit dinner.[4][5][10] The derivatives followed the same path: romanticismo (1818) for the movement and later (1857–1858, Nievo) for excessive sentimentality, romanticheria and the scornful romanticume.[2][3]

Timeline

  • About 1650 – English romantick is recorded in the sense “improbable”.[2]
  • 1694 – French romantique “picturesque” is recorded.[7]
  • 1810 – Madame de Staël's De l'Allemagne spreads romantique in the literary sense.[3]
  • 1814 – Lo Spettatore uses romantico for scenes that inspire melancholy.[2][3]
  • 1816 – Ludovico di Breme uses it as a noun for a follower of Romanticism.[2]
  • 1818 – Berchet names classico and romantico the two fashionable adjectives of Milan, romanticismo is recorded.[2][3]
  • Before 1907 – Carducci uses romantico for a sentimental, fanciful person.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to Romanticism, the European cultural movement of the late 18th and early 19th century: la pittura romantica tedesca.[4][5][10]
  2. romantic, sentimental: inclined to dreams, passion and melancholy, especially in love: Mio fratello è più romantico di quanto sembri.[4][5][11]
  3. Of a place, atmosphere or situation: that inspires tender, dreamy or loving feelings: Abbiamo trovato un ristorantino romantico sul lago.[4][5][11]

Noun

  1. A follower or representative of Romanticism.[4][5][6]
  2. A sentimental, dreamy person: Sotto sotto sei un romantico.[4][10][12]

Word family

  • romanticismo
  • romanticheria
  • romanticume
  • romanticamente
  • romanticità
  • romanticizzare
  • preromantico
  • postromantico
  • antiromantico

Usage notes

Un inguaribile romantico, “an incurable romantic”, is a common phrase for a hopelessly sentimental person.[4][5][6]

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 m n 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 j k Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3278
  8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 849
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli