Etymologically
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simile

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsi.mi.le/[1]

Forms

simile m or f by sense (plural simili)[1] Old forms include sìmele and sémele;[2][3] in poetry the stress could fall on the second syllable, simìle, for the rhyme.[2][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin similis (“like, resembling”).[5][6][3][7] The popular continuations of the Latin word are found elsewhere: Old Neapolitan semele, Sardinian simele in Logudorese, Old French semble and Old Occitan semble.[3][8][9] The learned Spanish símil stands beside it, while French similaire, a derivative, is used in French, from which Italian similare was taken.[6][5][9]

The Latin word comes from older *semilis, *semalis, from Proto-Italic *semali- (“alike, together”), and belongs with simul (“together”).[10][11] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *smh₂-el-i-; the root is *sem- (“one, together”), which expresses unity and sameness and also appears in semper (“always”), simplex (“simple”) and singulus (“single”).[10][6][1] Cognates include Ancient Greek ὁμαλός (homalós, “even, level”), Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós, “same”), Welsh hafal (“equal”) and English same.[10][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is an anonymous text of the first half of the 13th century, in the sense “of such a kind”; the sense “similar, partly alike” is first found in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.[5] Latini's Rettorica speaks of judging “nei simili convenenti”, in similar cases.[2]

Semantic evolution

As a noun simile meant a person of the same condition before 1321, in Dante's “Simile qui con simile è sepolto” (here like is buried with like), and “a similar thing” in Passavanti (1354); the plural i simili, one's fellow men, is recorded before 1459 in Sant'Antonino.[5][12] Old Italian also used it as an adverb, “likewise”: Giovanni Villani writes “e simile di Pisa”.[13][14] The geometrical sense, figures of the same shape but different size, appears before 1572 in Cosimo Bartoli.[5]

Proverbs pair like with like: ogni simile ama il suo simile.[13] Music took simile as an instruction to go on playing in the same way, recorded in 1695, and this passed into English and, in 1901, German.[15]

Timeline

  • First half of the 13th century – Simile “of such a kind” in an anonymous text.[5]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for what is similar.[5]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it as a noun for a person of the same kind.[5]
  • 1354 – Passavanti uses simile for a similar thing.[5]
  • Before 1459 – Sant'Antonino uses the plural for one's fellow men.[5]
  • 1549 – Similare is recorded in Bernardo Segni.[5]
  • Before 1572 – Cosimo Bartoli has the geometrical sense.[5]
  • 1695 – Simile is recorded as a musical direction.[15]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. similar, alike in some respects (to someone or something): Tua sorella ha un carattere molto simile al tuo.[7][4][16]
  2. Such, of this kind, often of something unexpected or bad: Non mi aspettavo una reazione simile.[7][4][16]
  3. (geometry) Of figures: having the same shape but not the same size, (algebra) of terms with the same literal part.[4][12][17]

Noun

  1. A fellow creature of the same species; in the plural, one's fellow men, one's neighbour: Dobbiamo aiutare i nostri simili.[7][16][12]
  2. (literary) A similar thing, e simili, and the like, and so on.[14][12][17]

Word family

  • similare
  • similitudine
  • similmente
  • similoro
  • similarità
  • consimile
  • dissimile

Usage notes

In lists e simili is often abbreviated e sim.[7][14] Nulla di simile and niente di simile (nothing like it) are common partitive phrases.[4][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 24
  3. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3499
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  10. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  14. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli