sezzo

Forms

sezzo (feminine sezza, masculine plural sezzi, feminine plural sezze)^[1] Variants are sezo and zezzo.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sētius (“later, too late”), an adverb in the comparative.^[3][4][1] The TLIO calls the Latin word Late Latin.^[5] The Latin adverb is related to Latin sērus (“late”).^[3][6][7] De Vaan derives it from Proto-Italic *sētos (“late”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“late, slow”).^[8][1] The GDLI also gives the older view that it is the comparative of secus (“otherwise”).^[2]

REW finds the word only in Old Italian, in Romansh and in Logudorese Sardinian, where it means “unless”.^[9] The Latin word also meant “less”.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates it before 1292.^[6] The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of Andreas Capellanus from the early 14th century, with the sense “last” in time, place or sequence.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was used as an adjective and as a noun for the last one: Non essere il sezzo a andare alla chiesa, “Don't be the last to go to church”, in the Trattato della Messa.^[2][10] Its main life was in the adverbial phrase da sezzo or al da sezzo, “at last, in the end”: Dante has Venimmo al piè d'una torre al da sezzo, “we came at last to the foot of a tower”.^[11][12][5]

The derivative sezzaio “last” is older still, from the 13th century.^[3] The word survives only as an archaism.^[4][11][1]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – First record of sezzo.^[6]
• Early 14th century – The translation of Andreas Capellanus uses it.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (archaic, literary) Last.^[4][13][1]

Word family

• sezzaio
• dassezzo

Related words

• sera
• Latin sētius
• Latin sērus

Usage notes

Da sezzo and al da sezzo (also written dassezzo) mean “at last, finally”.^[4][14][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)