sodo

Forms

sodo (feminine soda, masculine plural sodi, feminine plural sode)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain; most sources link it with solido or with saldo.^[2][3][4] Nocentini, Treccani and Devoto–Oli take it as inherited from Latin solidus (“solid, firm”), with Nocentini noting the sense of untilled land.^[5][6][7] Wiktionary takes it through the syncopated form soldus, which the OLD records from Varro and Horace.^[1][8]

Nocentini explains the change of ⟨ld⟩ to ⟨d⟩ by a velar pronunciation of /l/ before a consonant, which became /u/ and was then lost, as in Neapolitan vòta and dóce beside volta and dolce.^[5] Devoto saw it instead as a Ligurian treatment of /ld/.^[9] The form saudus is recorded in Medieval Latin, at Sorano in 787 and at Viterbo in 808.^[10][11] GRADIT and Zingarelli start from this saudus, as a variant of a *saldus “firm”.^[12][13] DEI and the GDLI take *saldus as a possible blend of solidus and validus (“strong”), and Prati doubted the derivation from solidus.^[11][4][10] Devoto saw saudus as an arbitrary correction of the Romance form by Medieval Latin scribes.^[9]

solidus goes back to Proto-Italic *soliþo- and Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”), the root of salvus.^[14][1] It is a doublet of soldo.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Tuscan text of 1270, the Ricordi, in the sense “compact, hard, without hollow or soft parts”.^[2][12] The adverb, “with force, hard”, is found in Monte Andrea in the 13th century, and the noun for hard, solid ground in the Statutes of Perugia of 1342.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the adjective also meant “untilled” of land, “heavy, strong” of blows (Franco Sacchetti) and “steady, constant”;^[11][2][6] DEI also records sodo for “expert”.^[11][2][6] As a noun sodo named the solid base of a wall in 16th-century architects such as Alberti, Serlio and Palladio, and in Florence, from the 16th century, a surety or guarantee.^[11][15] It is common in Tuscan place names, recorded since the 11th century.^[11]

The adverb took on the senses “intensely, seriously”, as in working or studying hard, in Pietro Nelli in 1546–1547, and “deeply”, of sleep, before 1492.^[2] In the 15th century the verb sodare was used for fulling cloth.^[2]

Timeline

• 787 – Medieval Latin saudo appears in a charter of Sorano.^[10]
• 808 – Medieval Latin saudus is recorded at Viterbo.^[11][4]
• 1270 – The Ricordi have the adjective.^[2]
• 13th century – Monte Andrea uses sodo as an adverb.^[2]
• 1342 – The Statutes of Perugia use the noun for hard ground.^[2]
• 1444 – Sodare is used for fulling cloth.^[2]
• 1546–1547 – Pietro Nelli uses sodo for working hard.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. firm, hard, compact to the touch: muscoli sodi;^[12][7][13] uovo sodo, a hard-boiled egg.^[12][7][13]
2. Of land, hard and compact; untilled, not broken up.^[12][7][16]
3. Of fruit, with firm flesh; of soup or polenta, thick, dense.^[12][7]
4. (archaic) Solid, of one piece: oro sodo, solid gold.^[7][13]
5. (figurative) Sound, well founded: una soda formazione.^[12][17][16]
6. (figurative) Of blows, heavy, violent: darle sode, to give a sound beating.^[12][7][16]
7. (archaic) Steadfast, firm in a purpose.^[12][7]

Adverb

1. With force, hard: picchiare sodo.^[7][13][17]
2. Intensely, with great effort: lavorare sodo, studiare sodo.^[7][13][16]
3. Deeply, soundly: dormire sodo.^[7][13][16]

Noun

1. Hard, solid ground: costruire sul sodo.^[12][13][16]
2. (figurative) What is solid and substantial: venire al sodo, to come to the point;^[12][13][16] c'è del sodo, there is something to it.^[12][13][16]

Word family

• sodare
• sodatrice
• sodatura
• sodaglia
• sodatore
• assodare
• dissodare
• dissodamento
• rassodare
• rassodamento
• sodamente
• sodezza

Related words

• solido
• soldo
• saldo
• Latin solidus

Usage notes

An old noun sodo “surety, guarantee” (Florence, 16th–18th century) is the same word used figuratively.^[11][3][15]

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 l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 925
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3525
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c d e f g h Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse