Etymologically
Log in

rotta

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 04:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Italian has two main words spelled rotta, both from Latin rupta, the feminine past participle of rumpere “to break”: “break, breach; defeat”, the feminine of rotto used as a noun, and “course, route”, which came through French or Spanish.[1][2][3][4] DELI files the first under rompere and numbers the second 2.[1]

rotta1 break, breach; defeat

Pronunciation

Forms

rotta f (plural rotte)[5] Older forms include Old Italian ropta, rocta, rota and roda.[5][6]

Etymology

The break and the defeat are rotto (“broken”), the past participle of rompere (“to break”), in the feminine used as a noun.[7][3][5][6] Other dictionaries trace it directly to Latin rupta, the feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpō (“to break”).[8][9][10][11][12] A Medieval Latin rupta is recorded in Emilia in 1149, and a Tuscan place name, Trasrotta, near Palaia already in 810.[4] The same participle gave Old Occitan rota, Spanish rota and Portuguese rota “rout”, and Old French route; French déroute “rout” is from the same family.[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI and Zingarelli date the word to the 13th century, and DEI finds the sense “crushing defeat” in Dante.[4][9] The GDLI's earliest quotation of the military sense is the Anonymous Genoese poet, whose rota is a naval defeat of the Venetians.[6]

Semantic evolution

From “breaking” the word passed to the breach a flood makes in a river's banks (14th century) and the overflowing of rivers (16th century, Pietro Aretino).[4][14] The defeat that scatters an army is common in the chroniclers: Matteo Villani tells of the fear that took hold of troops on hearing of la rotta delle due prime schiere, “the rout of the first two lines”.[6] Famous routs, such as Roncesvalles or Caporetto, are named this way.[9][8]

The plain sense “break” survives only in phrases: a rotta di collo, at breakneck speed, recorded from the 14th century, and essere in rotta con qualcuno, to have fallen out with someone.[2][7][10] Zingarelli also lists an obsolete sense “shipwreck”.[9]

Timeline

  • 810 – The place name Trasrotta is recorded near Palaia.[4]
  • 1149 – Medieval Latin rupta is recorded in Emilia.[4]
  • 13th century – Italian rotta is recorded.[4][9]
  • Early 14th century – Dante uses it for a heavy defeat.[4]
  • 14th century – A rotta di collo and the sense “breach in a river bank” appear.[2][4]
  • 16th century – Pietro Aretino uses it for a river's overflowing.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) A break, rottura; now only in phrases: Corse giù per la collina a rotta di collo.[3][7][10]
  2. (hydrology) A breach in the banks of a river in flood, and the place where it happens: Dopo le piogge si temeva una rotta dell'argine..[3][8][10]
  3. A crushing defeat that puts an army to flight: L'esercito nemico fu messo in rotta.[3][7][8]

rotta2 course, route

Pronunciation

Forms

rotta f (plural rotte)[5]

Etymology

The course of a ship is usually explained as borrowed from French route (“road, way”), first recorded in this sense in 1552.[1][2][3][8] The French word comes from Vulgar Latin *rupta (with via (“road”) understood), “a road broken open”, originally one cut through a forest.[1][2][8] GRADIT calls the origin uncertain, and DELI adds that the spread of the nautical sense was due to the Spanish.[3][1] DEI derives it from Spanish rota, since the first authors to use it, Ramusio and Ulloa, wrote in the 16th century, and Prati allowed either the Spanish word or Portuguese rota, or a native use of rompere for breaking a path through the snow.[4][15] Wiktionary and Devoto–Oli derive it from the Latin phrase directly, without a French step.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI notes that rota and rotta are frequent for a course at sea in the portolans of the 15th century, and the GDLI quotes one with the spelling rutta.[1][16] DEI's first records are in Ramusio and Ulloa (16th century), for the track of a ship through the water.[4]

Semantic evolution

In 1640 Oudin's dictionary equated rotta with French route; the general sense “way, journey” is recorded in 1812, and the technical nautical sense “course steered by a ship” in D'Ayala's naval dictionary of 1853.[1][3] Purists resisted: Ugolini called rotta for “road” an intolerable barbarism from French, and Tommaseo–Bellini marked the word as French.[16][14] Yet the old and regional sense “road, path” and “a path opened in the snow” is also recorded.[16]

By extension the word is used of aircraft and missiles, and of the routes of migrating animals.[3][7] Figuratively it is a line of conduct or thought: cambiare rotta, invertire la rotta.[3][11] The verb dirottare, to change course, and dirottamento are recorded before 1797.[2][15] Maltese rotta and Turkish rota were borrowed from it.[5]

Timeline

  • 15th century – Rota and rotta appear in portolans.[1]
  • 1552 – French route “course” is recorded.[1][3]
  • 16th century – Ramusio and Ulloa use rotta.[4]
  • 1640 – Oudin equates rotta with route.[1]
  • Before 1797 – Dirottare is recorded.[2]
  • 1812 – Bernardoni records rotta “way, journey”.[1]
  • 1853 – D'Ayala records the nautical sense.[1][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (nautical, aviation) course, the direction followed by a ship or aircraft, and the route it covers: La nave ha fatto rotta verso Malta.[3][7][8]
  2. The route of migrating animals.[3]
  3. The line that marks a course on a navigation chart: tracciare la rotta sulla carta.[3][7]
  4. The angle between the heading of a craft and north.[7][8]
  5. (figurative) A line of conduct or thought: Dopo le elezioni il partito ha cambiato rotta.[3][11][5]
  6. (archaic or regional) Road, way, path.[3][5][16]

Word family

  • dirottare
  • dirottamento
  • dirottatore

Usage notes

Rotta di collisione is a course that would lead to a crash and, figuratively, a path towards open conflict.[7][9] Two minor words share the spelling: rotta (also crotta), a medieval Germanic lyre, mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus and pronounced with an open o, and an old rotta “rattan”, from Malay through Portuguese.[4][16][17][5]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3289
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 145
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  12. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  15. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 854
  16. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 147
  17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 148