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sbagliato

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word sbagliato

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1839

Pronunciation

  • /zbaʎˈʎa.to/[1]

Forms

sbagliato (feminine sbagliata, masculine plural sbagliati, feminine plural sbagliate, superlative sbagliatissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of sbagliare (“to make a mistake”), used as an adjective.[2][3][4][1] That verb is probably abbagliare (“to dazzle”) with the prefix changed, and Nocentini notes that it was first used reflexively, meaning to be dazzled and so to be mistaken.[2][5] DEI connects it with an older Old Italian babliare, of which the participle bagliato is recorded in the 14th century.[6] The base is that of bagliore (“glare”), whose origin is debated: Nocentini traces it to Vulgar Latin *balius, from Ancient Greek βαλιός (baliós, “white-spotted”), while the LEI prefers a pre-Roman, perhaps Celtic, word for shining.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the adjective to 1839, in the Milanese press, with the sense “erroneous”.[2][3][4] In the revised Promessi sposi (1840–1842), Manzoni wrote era stato un tentativo sbagliato “it had been a mistaken attempt” where the edition of 1825–1827 had manchevole “deficient”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb sbagliare is older: Nocentini dates it to about 1440, and DELI and DEI to Magalotti in 1666, with sbaglio “mistake” in Redi the same year.[5][2][6] Tommaseo's dictionary records sbagliato for a copy not made exactly, a line of verse that breaks the metre, an unsound judgement and an undertaking that missed its point.[7]

The vita sbagliata, a life that went astray, was a phrase of Tommaseo's time, and Carducci wrote Tutta la mia vita è una cosa sbagliata “my whole life is a mistake”.[7][8] Modern dictionaries add the senses “unsuitable, ill-timed” (il momento sbagliato) and “taken for another” (il numero sbagliato).[9][3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1440 – The verb sbagliare is first recorded.[5]
  • 1666 – Magalotti uses sbagliare for “to make a mistake”, and Redi uses sbaglio.[2]
  • 1839 – Sbagliato “erroneous” appears in the Milanese press.[2]
  • 1840–1842 – Manzoni uses it in the revised Promessi sposi.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. wrong, incorrect, erroneous: una risposta sbagliata.[9][3][4]
  2. Badly done or carried out: Il conto è sbagliato, rifallo.[9][3][10]
  3. Badly conceived, unsuccessful: un progetto sbagliato.[9][3][11]
  4. Unsuitable, ill-chosen, ill-timed: Sei arrivato proprio nel momento sbagliato.[9][3][4]
  5. Taken for another, not the intended one: Ho chiamato il numero sbagliato.[9][3][4]

Usage notes

Partire con il piede sbagliato means to get off on the wrong foot.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3350
  7. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 625
  9. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  10. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
Cite this entry

“Sbagliato.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/sbagliato. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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