sesso

Forms

sesso m (plural sessi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin sexus (“sex, gender”).^[2][3][4][1] The same Latin word gave French sexe and Spanish sexo, and it has spread through the European languages.^[3][5] DEI suggests that a popular continuation may survive in Sicilian sessu and Logudorese sessu “vulva”.^[6]

The Latin noun is of uncertain origin.^[2][7] It is often linked with Latin secō (“to cut”), as a division of a species into classes, and the neuter secus (“sex”) is used only with adjectives such as virīlis (“male”) and muliebris (“female”).^[3][8][9] De Vaan finds the formation unclear: the word could go back to a present Proto-Indo-European *sek-s- (“to cut up”) or be formed on the stem behind that neuter noun.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to before 1320, Zingarelli to 1282.^[4][7] DELI's first record, for the set of features that make individuals of a species male or female, is the vernacular Crescenzi of about 1350, and the sense “genitals” is in the 14th-century Pataffio.^[2] The GDLI quotes Cecco d'Ascoli on the hyena, which “muta il sesso” (changes its sex).^[10]

Semantic evolution

Many derivatives came partly through French: sessuale (1841, Rosmini) beside French sexuel (1742), sessualità (1873) beside sexualité (1838), and sessuato (1900) beside sexué (1880).^[2] Terzo sesso for masculine women follows French troisième sexe (1842), and sessismo (1974) and sessista (1977) follow French sexisme and sexiste.^[2][3]

The sense “sexuality, sex life”, as in fare sesso, comes from English sex.^[2][11] Ivan Klajn quotes an article in L'Espresso saying that twenty years earlier it had been felt as a serious barbarism, and was now a barely noticeable Anglicism.^[2][11] Set phrases include il gentil sesso or il sesso debole (women, used jokingly) and il sesso forte (men), and discutere sul sesso degli angeli, to argue over an unanswerable question.^[12][7][11]

Timeline

• 1282 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[7]
• Before 1320 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^[4]
• About 1350 – The vernacular Crescenzi uses sesso for the male or female character.^[2]
• 14th century – The Pataffio uses it for the genitals.^[2]
• 1841 – Rosmini uses sessuale.^[2]
• 1935 – Sessuologia is recorded.^[2]
• 1974 – Sessismo appears, after French sexisme.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. sex: the features that distinguish male and female individuals of a species: Non sappiamo ancora il sesso del bambino.^{[4][12][13][1]}
2. The condition of being male or female: persone di entrambi i sessi.^[4][11]
3. Men or women as a group: il sesso opposto, la parità dei sessi.^[4][11]
4. sexuality, sexual life and the questions about it: È un libro che parla di sesso.^[4][12][11]
5. Sexual activity, fare sesso, to have sex.^{[4][12][7][1]}
6. The genitals.^[4][12][13]

Word family

• sessuale
• sessualità
• sessuato
• asessuato
• sessuologia
• sessismo
• sessista
• transessuale
• intersesso

Related words

• Latin sexus
• French sexe

Usage notes

DEI and the GDLI give a separate obsolete sesso “backside, anus”, used by Cellini and Sassetti in the 16th century, from Latin sessus, the past participle of sedeō (“to sit”).^[6][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3466
7. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse