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settimana

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word settimana

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1264, in the form septimana
Borrowed from
Latin septimana
Ultimate origin
Latin septimus

Pronunciation

  • /set.tiˈma.na/[1]

Forms

settimana f (plural settimane)[1] The old form Old Italian semmana is in Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto.[2][3] GDLI lists the old and regional forms setimana, setemana, stimana, stomana and Tuscan sermana.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin septimāna (“week”), a learned word according to DELI,[5][6][1] the feminine, used as a noun, of septimānus (“of seven”), from septimus (“seventh”).[5][7][1] The Late Latin noun is a calque of Ancient Greek ἑβδομάς (hebdomás, “group of seven; week”).[5][8][9] The popular Old Italian form ⟨semmana⟩ shows the loss of the unstressed vowel and the assimilation of the consonants.[3]

The same Latin word lives in French semaine, Occitan setmana, Catalan setmana, Spanish semana, Portuguese semana and Romanian săptămână.[7][10] Körting notes that the Spanish and Portuguese words are borrowed, the native ones having continued hebdomada, and that the word in Sardinia is Sardinian chida.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Sardinian Condaghi of the 12th century, as setimana;[5] GDLI quotes them: “a servire a iuale III dies in setimana” (to serve … three days a week).[4] The Latin spelling septimana is in a Tuscan treaty of 1264, and the form settimana in Boccaccio in 1353, always as a period of seven days, especially from Monday to Sunday.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The Ottimo commento on Dante also uses the word for a period of seven years, after the law of Moses.[2][12] The sense “a week's wage” is first recorded by Tommaseo–Bellini in 1873.[5]

The adjective settimanale “weekly” is recorded in the Milanese press in 1806; in 1844 Parenti observed that no dictionary had it yet, and as a noun, “weekly periodical”, it dates from 1940.[5] Modern phrases include settimana corta “five-day week”, settimana bianca “skiing holiday” and fine settimana, a translation of English week-end.[13][14][15] The word also names the children's game of hopscotch.[6][3]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Sardinian setimana appears in the Condaghi.[5]
  • 1264 – Septimana is written in a Tuscan treaty.[5][6]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses the form settimana.[5]
  • 1805 – D'Alberti records settimanalmente.[5]
  • 1806 – Settimanale appears in the Milanese press.[5]
  • 1873 – Tommaseo–Bellini record settimana “a week's pay”.[5]
  • 1940 – Settimanale “weekly periodical” is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A week, one of the periods of seven days from Monday to Sunday into which the year is divided: Ci vediamo la settimana prossima.[6][3][1]
  2. Any period of seven days; an event lasting about a week: la settimana della moda.[6][3][8]
  3. A week's wage.[6][14][3]
  4. The children's game of hopscotch, also called campana.[6][3]

Word family

  • settimanale
  • settimanalmente
  • settimo
  • sette
  • ebdomadario
  • Latin septimana

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 823
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 403
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 914
  13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Settimana.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/settimana. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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