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seccato

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word seccato

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1336 Boccaccio More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Latin siccus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin siccus
French sec
English sec
Italian secco
Romanian sec
Spanish seco
Latin siccō
French sécher
Italian seccare
Italian seccato
Spanish secar
From the same root
Latin siccitās ← siccus
Romanian secăciune ← sec
Latin exsiccō ← siccō
Italian disseccare ← seccare

Pronunciation

  • /sekˈka.to/[1]

Forms

seccato (feminine seccata, masculine plural seccati, feminine plural seccate)[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian seccare (“to dry; to annoy”): its past participle, used as an adjective.[2][3][4][5] Seccare continues Latin siccō (“to dry, drain”), from siccus (“dry”), and its Latin past participle was siccātus.[3][1][6] The same verb is French sécher, Spanish secar, Portuguese secar, Sardinian siccare and Romanian seca.[3]

The figurative sense “to annoy, bore” of the verb developed in Italian through an intermediate “to exhaust, wear out”, and it passed to seccante, seccatore and seccatura.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boccaccio uses seccato around 1336 in the literal sense “dried up”, of withered roots.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “dried” stayed with the participle: dried figs, plants or fish.[5][7][6] The figurative “annoyed, irritated” is recorded only from before 1786, in Gasparo Gozzi.[2] Tommaseo's dictionary describes seccato as someone weary and fed up with everything, often by affectation.[6]

Today the adjective means mainly “annoyed”; in the literal sense Italian more often uses secco.[5][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1336 – Boccaccio uses seccato in the sense “dried up”.[2]
  • Before 1786 – Gasparo Gozzi uses it for “annoyed, irritated”.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. annoyed, irritated, put out: Era seccata perché nessuno l'aveva avvisata.[8][4][9][1]
  2. Showing annoyance or displeasure: un tono seccato.[8][4]
  3. fed up, bored.[1][5][10]
  4. Dried, withered: pomodori seccati al sole.[11][9][1]

Word family

  • seccatamente

Usage notes

In the sense “annoyed” it takes per or di: seccato per il ritardo, seccato di dover aspettare.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  6. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  8. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
Cite this entry

“Seccato.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/seccato. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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