Etymologically
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sesso

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Pronunciation

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

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