Etymologically
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serie

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Pronunciation

Forms

serie f (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin seriēs (“row, chain, succession”), a learned word, from serō (“to join, to link in a row”) with the suffix -iēs.[2][3][4][5][1] DELI calls the Latin verb of Indo-European origin, and Devoto sets it beside related words in Celtic and Greek and beside sermone, from a root ⟨ser-⟩.[2][6] The same learned word is French série, recorded from 1715, Spanish serie and Portuguese série.[3][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Giovan Battista Gelli, 1562–1563, who uses the word for the rhythm of a sentence.[2][4] DEI dates it to the 17th century, to Francesco Lana, with the senses “order, continuous arrangement”.[8]

Semantic evolution

From the 17th century the word named an ordered succession of things or people, such as la continuata serie di tredici imperatori ottomani, “the unbroken series of thirteen Ottoman emperors”.[9] Lana already used it for series of numbers in mathematics, and Segneri for a line of descent, a sense now lost.[10][8]

Later senses came with the sciences and with new technology: a group of related organic compounds (1873), a set of stamps of one issue (1940) and a division of athletes or teams by level (1960), as in serie A.[2] In serie describes mass production and electrical components connected one after another, and di serie standard equipment.[11][12] The adjective seriale appears in Benedetto Croce before 1952, and, from 1960 it also names serial music;[2] DELI compares English serial.[2]

Timeline

  • 1562–1563 – Giovan Battista Gelli uses the word for the rhythm of a sentence.[2]
  • 17th century – Francesco Lana uses it in mathematics.[8][10]
  • 1873 – Chemical sense, a group of related organic compounds.[2]
  • 1940 – A set of stamps of the same issue.[2]
  • 1960 – A division of athletes or teams, seriale is used of music.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. series, an ordered succession of related things, people or events: una serie di furti nel quartiere.[4][13][14][1]
  2. A range or set to choose from: una serie di proposte.[4][13][1]
  3. (sports) Each of the divisions in which athletes and teams compete by level: La squadra è salita in serie B.[4][13][14][1] Di serie B also means second-rate.[13][12]
  4. A television or radio series, a serial; also a run of articles or programmes on one subject: Ho finito la terza stagione della serie.[4][14][12]
  5. The numbered issues of a periodical, nuova serie, a fresh run after a break.[4][13][12]
  6. A set of stamps of one issue; a group of banknotes, lottery tickets or cheques sharing one mark: numero di serie.[4][14][11]
  7. (mathematics) The sum of the infinitely many terms of a sequence.[4][13][11][1]
  8. (typography) A set of type of the same slope, weight or width.[4][14]
  9. (industry) Production of a large number of copies of one model: produzione in serie.[12][11]

Word family

  • seriale
  • serialità
  • serializzare
  • seriare
  • seriazione

Usage notes

Serie is invariable: la serie, le serie.[4][1] Di serie means standard, included in the price, and fuori serie made apart from the regular production, hence exceptional.[4][12] In jokes della serie or per la serie introduces a typical case: “of the kind…”.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3460
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 725
  10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  14. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse