soprannome

Forms

soprannome m (plural soprannomi)^[1] Old Italian forms include sopranome, soprenome, sovranome, supranome and Sicilian supranomu.^[2]

Etymology

DELI, GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti take it as from Italian sopra- + nome, “name over or beyond the name”.^[3][4][5][1] DELI adds that Medieval Latin supranomen is already recorded in the Medieval Latin of Siena in 994, and that Late Latin had supernōmināre in this sense.^[3][2] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli instead derive the Italian word from Medieval Latin supernomen, reshaped after sopra-.^[6][7][8] The Medieval Latin word is made of Latin super (“above”) and nōmen (“name”).^[9][10]

The double ⟨nn⟩ reflects the doubling of the consonant after sopra.^[11] Old Italian also wrote sopranome and sopra nome.^[2][11][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Storie de Troia e de Roma, a Roman text of 1252–58.^[2] DELI's first record is Dante's Convivio (1304–08), with the form sopranome; the form soprannome appears in Sacchetti before 1400.^[3] The early sense was a name used beside or instead of a person's own, often recalling a trait, and also the third name of the Roman system, the cognomen.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word often meant the added name that set a person apart, taken from a parent or a place, which became the family name: Dante's ancestor Cacciaguida says that his wife came from the Po valley e quindi il sopranome tuo si feo “whence your surname came”.^[2][12][5] Boccaccio and Giovanni Villani use it in this sense, and the verb soprannominare is recorded in Villani before 1348.^[13][3]

The sense “surname” is now obsolete, and the word means a nickname, playful or insulting, based on a person's looks, habits or origin.^[4][7][9] Zingarelli contrasts it with nomignolo, which tends to be derogatory, and with epiteto, which goes with a name without replacing it.^[9]

Timeline

• 994 – Medieval Latin supranomen is recorded at Siena.^[3]
• 1252–1258 – The Storie de Troia e de Roma has the first Italian record.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses sopranome in the Convivio.^[3]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses soprannominare.^[3]
• Before 1400 – Sacchetti writes soprannome.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. nickname: a playful or insulting name given to someone, usually from a feature of their body, character or origin: In paese lo chiamano col soprannome di Ciuffo.^[4][7][5][1]
2. (archaic) Surname, family name.^[4][7][5]

Word family

• soprannominare

Related words

• nome
• nomignolo
• cognome
• Medieval Latin supernomen

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 415
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET