solido

Forms

solido (feminine solida, masculine plural solidi, feminine plural solide, superlative solidissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin sŏlĭdus (“compact, firm, whole”).^[2][3][4][1] Dante is the first to use it, before 1321.^[2][4] The phrase in solido continues the Latin legal expression in solidum (“for the whole”), used of creditors who claimed the entire sum.^[2][5] The same Latin word gave French solide and Spanish sólido.^[3][6]

The Latin adjective was inherited by Italian in the popular forms sodo and, through the noun solidus (“gold coin”), soldo; saldo goes back to a contracted form.^[3][1][7] The Latin word for the gold coin of Constantine, short for solidus nummus (“solid coin”), is the same adjective used as a noun.^[4][8]

De Vaan derives solidus from Proto-Italic *soliþo-, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-i-dʰh₁-o- (“entire”), of the same root *solh₂- (“whole”) as salvus and sollus; a link with soleō (“to be accustomed”) is unlikely because of the meaning.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante, in the Paradiso (before 1321), describes a cloud “shining, thick, solid and polished” like a diamond struck by the sun: the first sense is that of a body that keeps its shape and is hard to break or deform.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Geometry took up the word early: Luca Pacioli (before 1510) used solido as a noun for a three-dimensional figure, and Cosimo Bartoli (before 1572) used the adjective for “three-dimensional”.^[2] In the 16th century Girolamo Ruscelli applied it to things that are stable and resistant, and by Gasparo Gozzi's time (before 1786) arguments and ideas could be solidi, well founded.^[2] The law kept in solido for joint liability, recorded in the 14th century.^[11][2]

Modern Italian applies the adjective to sound businesses and secure positions, to strong bodies, to fast colours, and in physics to one of the three states of matter.^[4][12][5] The noun also names the gold coin of the late Roman Empire, struck from 325 at about 4.5 grams, recorded in Italian from before 1580.^[4][12]

Timeline

• Before 1321 – Dante uses solido of a hard, compact body.^[2][4]
• Before 1342 – The derivative solidità appears in Domenico Cavalca.^[2]
• Before 1510 – Luca Pacioli uses solido as a noun in geometry.^[2]
• Before 1566 – Girolamo Ruscelli uses it for “stable, resistant”.^[2]
• Before 1572 – Cosimo Bartoli uses it for “three-dimensional”.^[2]
• Before 1580 – The noun for the Roman gold coin is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1786 – Gasparo Gozzi uses it for “well founded”.^[2]
• 1853 – Solidificare is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (physics) Of a body: having its own shape and volume, with molecules held by strong cohesion; not fluid: Il ghiaccio è acqua allo stato solido.^[4][5][13]
2. (geometry) Three-dimensional: geometria solida.^[4][13][5]
3. Stable, sturdy, firmly built: Il tavolo della cucina è molto solido.^[4][12][5]
4. Of a colour: fast, not affected by washing or sunlight.^[4][13]
5. (figurative) Physically strong, robust.^[4][12]
6. (figurative) Financially sound and secure: un istituto di credito solido.^[4][12]
7. (figurative) Well grounded, resting on sound reasons or evidence: una solida preparazione.^[4][12][5]

Noun

1. (geometry) A solid, a figure in three dimensions: solido di rotazione.^[4][5]
2. (physics) A body in the solid state: fisica dei solidi.^[5]
3. (numismatics) The solidus, the gold coin introduced by Constantine.^[4][12][14]
4. (law) In the phrase in solido: jointly and severally: debitore in solido.^[5][15]

Word family

• solidificare
• solidificazione
• solidità
• semisolido
• solidamente
• solidare
• solidezza
• solidarietà
• solidale

Related words

• sodo
• soldo
• saldo
• salvo
• Latin solidus

Usage notes

GRADIT and Treccani give the coin (solido²) a heading of its own, but it is the same Latin word: solidus used as a noun, short for solidus nummus.^[4][8] The literary word for the coin in the Middle Ages became soldo.^[3][8]

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 m n 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 i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3536
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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana