santo

Forms

santo (feminine santa, masculine plural santi, feminine plural sante, superlative santissimo)^[1] Before a name beginning with a consonant the masculine is shortened to san (san Carlo), but santo stays before s plus consonant (santo Stefano); before a vowel both genders are elided to sant’ (sant’Anna).^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sānctus (“sacred, inviolable”), properly the past participle of sanciō (“to make sacred and inviolable, ratify”).^[3][4][5][1] The word is found throughout Romance: French saint, Occitan sant, Catalan sant, Spanish santo, Portuguese santo, Sardinian santu and Aromanian sânt.^[4][6][7] The Latin cluster ⟨nct⟩ was simplified to ⟨nt⟩.^[8][6]

The Latin verb is a nasal present built on the root of Latin sacer (“sacred”), Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-, with the stem Proto-Indo-European *sh₂-n-k- (“to make sacred”); Oscan saahtúm (“sacred”) is the same participle.^[9][8] Devoto describes the meaning as first “agreed, made untouchable”, later taken into the Christian idea of holiness.^[10] In Christian use the early Christians called themselves “saints”, as the Jews had used a name meaning “set apart” and “consecrated to God”.^[11]

Learned words from the same Latin family came later: santificare from Christian Latin sanctificō, and santuario from sanctuārium.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a charter from Fabriano of 1186, where the word is applied to a saint venerated by the Church.^[3][5][12] Saint Francis of Assisi, before 1226, uses it as an attribute of God.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century santo also meant pious and devout, and, from Dante, before 1321, it is a noun for a person who has reached perfection and is venerated, especially after canonization.^[3] Before a noun it became an intensifier: di santa ragione “soundly, thoroughly” is in Boccaccio in 1353, and in santa pace in Francesco Redi before 1698.^[3] In Old Italian santo was also a noun for “church”: Boccaccio writes andare a santo, and a mother going to church for the first time after childbirth was said to entrare in santo.^[13][5]

Santino, the small holy picture of a saint, is recorded before 1696, and santone “bigot” in 1545, later also a holy man of a non-Christian religion.^[3] Tommaseo records the sense “wholesome, effective” (un rimedio santo) in 1872.^[3] English santo, from Spanish or Italian, has named a Muslim holy man since 1638.^[12]

Timeline

• 1186 – A Fabriano charter uses santo for a canonized saint.^[3]
• Before 1226 – Saint Francis uses it as an attribute of God.^[3]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses santità.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses santo as a noun.^[3]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses di santa ragione.^[3]
• 1545 – Santone “bigot” is recorded.^[3]
• 1638 – English santo is first recorded.^[12]
• Before 1696 – Filippo Baldinucci uses santino for a holy picture.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. holy, sacred, worthy of religious veneration; connected with God and worship: la santa messa, l'acqua santa.^{[5][14][15][1]}
2. Of a person: pious, living a life of great virtue; good and patient: Sua nonna era una donna santa.^[5][15][16]
3. Inviolable, to be respected: un giuramento santo.^[5][2][17]
4. True, right; useful, effective: parole sante!, Quel suggerimento è stato santo..^[5][16]
5. (intensifier) Whole, blessed: Ho aspettato tutto il santo pomeriggio.^[5][3]

Noun

1. A saint, a person canonized by the Church; a very good or patient person: Tua sorella è una santa a sopportarlo.^[5][15][1]
2. Before a name, San, Santo, Santa: the saint's feast day, or a church or place named after a saint: la basilica di San Pietro.^[5][15][1]
3. (colloquial) One's name day; the patron saint of a town and his feast.^[5]
4. (military slang) The password.^[5]

Word family

• santità
• santificare
• santificazione
• santino
• santissimo
• santone
• santuario
• santerello
• santarellina
• santocchio
• camposanto
• vinsanto

Related words

• sacro
• sancire
• French saint
• Latin sānctus

Usage notes

Santo is written with a small letter for the saint and the feast (oggi è san Martino), with a capital in titles and names of institutions and churches (Santo Padre, Santa Sede, San Miniato).^[2] Exclamations such as santo cielo! and santo Dio! express surprise or annoyance.^[14][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3335
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 872
12. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli