sabato

Forms

sabato m (plural sabati)^[1] The older and central Italian form is sabbato, and old dialect forms include saba, sàbado, sàbao and sabo.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sabbatum, from Ancient Greek σάββατον (sábbaton), from Biblical Hebrew שַׁבָּת (šabbāṯ, “cessation (from work), rest”).^[5][6][7][1] Nocentini and GRADIT add that the Greek singular was taken from the plural σάββατα (sábbata), which came from Aramaic שַׁבְּתָא (šabbəṯāʾ), equivalent to the Hebrew word.^[6][7]

The word is pan-Romance: Spanish sábado, Portuguese sábado, Sardinian sapadu and Dalmatian sabata.^[6][8] A Late Latin variant with ⟨m⟩, Late Latin sambatum, gave Romanian sâmbătă and Romansh samda;^[8][9][6] French samedi and Catalan dissabte are compounds with Latin diēs (“day”).^[8][9][6] The form with ⟨m⟩ is also the source of Old High German sambaztag, modern German Samstag.^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Tuscan Diatessaron of the 13th century, where Jesus asks whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath (È lizito a curare de sabato?).^[5][4] In the Gospel context the word is the Jewish day of rest.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was both the Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day consecrated to God, and the sixth day of the civil week, between Friday and Sunday.^[4][10] Tommaseo records that in Florence the Hebrew form sciabà was used for a holiday.^[10]

Because workers were paid on Saturday evening, the proverb Dio non paga il sabato, “God does not pay on Saturday”, says that divine justice comes even if it is late.^[3][11] The sabato inglese, the free Saturday afternoon on the English model, was introduced in Italy in the 1930s and renamed sabato fascista under the regime from 1935.^[12][2] In journalism sabato sera became a symbol of youthful excess after the film Saturday Night Fever (1977).^[2] The learned sabbatico came through French sabbatique, and anno sabbatico took on the sense of a year off from university teaching in 1950.^[5]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Tuscan Diatessaron uses sabato for the Sabbath.^[5]
• 1282 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[3]
• Before 1342 – GRADIT's date for the word.^[7]
• Early 18th century – The adjective sabatino is recorded.^[6]
• 1745 – Anno sabbatico is recorded for the Jewish fallow year.^[5]
• 1935 – The sabato inglese is renamed sabato fascista.^[2]
• 1950 – Anno sabbatico is used for a year free of university teaching.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Saturday, the sixth day of the civil week and the seventh of the liturgical week, after venerdì and before domenica: Ci vediamo sabato mattina.^[7][2][13]
2. The Jewish sabbath, the last day of the week, consecrated to rest.^[7][3][11]

Word family

• sabbatico
• sabatino
• sabatizzare

Related words

• Latin sabbatum
• English sabbath

Usage notes

Without an article sabato means the coming or the last Saturday, and with the article (il sabato) every Saturday.^[13] Named Saturdays include sabato santo, the day before Easter, sabato grasso, the last Saturday of Carnival, and sabato di passione, the day before Palm Sunday.^[7][3][2] The ironic sabato che viene! means “never”.^[2][11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f 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 f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3301
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse