soldato

Forms

soldato m (plural soldati, feminine soldata)^[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of Old Italian soldare (“to take into one's pay”), used as an adjective and then as a noun: a soldier was originally a man hired for pay.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is formed from soldo, the coin and then the soldier's pay, which continues Late Latin soldus, short for Latin solidus (“solid”), said of the gold coin of stable value issued under Constantine.^[3][1] Körting reconstructs Vulgar Latin *solidātus for the noun.^[6]

The Latin adjective probably comes from the same root as salvus (“safe, whole”), Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”), through Proto-Italic *soliðos.^[7][1]

French soldat, Spanish soldado and Portuguese soldado were borrowed from Italian, and the French word passed on to German Soldat.^[3][8][9] The English word soldier has a separate origin: it is Old French soudier, also formed from the name of the coin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine Libro Guelfo of 1276–1279, where the adjective describes horsemen and foot soldiers taken into service for pay.^[5] DELI and GRADIT date the noun to Giovanni Villani's chronicle, before 1348.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Until the rise of national armies the word meant a mercenary: Villani's gente soldata is a hired force, and Boccaccio's two Lombards had been in fatti d’arme e soldati in their youth.^[10][11] In the 16th century Vincenzio Borghini noted that the word fitted Roman soldiers badly, since the old writers used it only for men hired from outside, never for citizens.^[2][10] The modern sense “member of an army, by choice or by conscription” grew from it.^[4][12]

The figurative sense, someone who fights for an ideal or a faith, is recorded from 1495, and soldati di Cristo are the faithful who have been confirmed.^[2][13] The diminutive soldatino has meant a toy soldier since 1873.^[2] In zoology the word names the members of an ant or termite colony that defend it, and in slang a low-ranking member of a Mafia family.^[4][12]

The Italian word spread widely through European armies: French soldat is recorded from 1475, German Soldat from 1521, and Russian солдат (soldat) and Ottoman Turkish borrowed it too.^[14][1]

Timeline

• 1276–1279 – The Libro Guelfo of Florence has soldato “hired for pay”.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb soldare.^[5]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses soldato for a fighting man.^[2]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani has soldataglia.^[2]
• 1475 – French soldat is first recorded.^[14]
• 1495 – The figurative sense “fighter for a cause” appears.^[2]
• 1521 – German Soldat is first recorded.^[14]
• 1873 – Soldatino “toy soldier” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A soldier, anyone serving in an army regardless of rank or arm: Il soldato tornò a casa dopo due anni al fronte.^[4][12][15]
2. The lowest rank in the army, a private (soldato semplice).^[12][13][16]
3. (history) A mercenary serving for pay a ruler or state without a national army.^[4][12][13]
4. (figurative) A dedicated fighter for an ideal or a faith: un soldato della verità.^[4][15][13]
5. (zoology) In ant and termite colonies, an individual specialised in defence.^[4][12][15]
6. (slang) A member of a Mafia family.^[12]

Word family

• soldatino
• soldatesca
• soldatesco
• soldataglia
• soldatessa

Related words

• soldo
• assoldare
• French soldat
• Latin solidus

Usage notes

Fare il soldato and andare soldato mean to do one's military service.^[13][16] The feminine is soldata or, popular and ironic, soldatessa, and the masculine is also used of women.^[15][13] Old Italian forms include soldado, sollato and Sicilian suldatu.^[5]

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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3532
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19
12. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana