spesso

Forms

spesso (feminine spessa, masculine plural spessi, feminine plural spesse, superlative spessissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spissus (“thick, dense”).^[2][3][4][1] The adverb “often” is the adjective used adverbially, through the sense “numerous, frequent”.^[4][5][6] The word is panromance: French épais, Occitan espés, Catalan espès, Spanish espeso, Portuguese espesso, Sardinian ispissu and Aromanian spes.^[3][7] Only Italian also uses it for “often”.^[7]

According to de Vaan the Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *spisso-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *spid-to-; its likeliest relatives are Greek glosses such as Ancient Greek σπιδνός (spidnós, “thick, dense”), and Lithuanian spìsti (“to begin to swarm”) may also belong here.^[8][3]

Spessore is French épaisseur.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both uses are recorded before 1250: a poet of the Sicilian school has the adjective in the sense “numerous, frequent”, and Giacomo da Lentini the adverb “often”.^[2][4] Giacomo da Lentini also has the adverb spessora.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The physical senses are recorded later: “dense” in Bono Giamboni before 1292, “thick, dense (of a wood)” in Zucchero Bencivenni in 1310, and “having a certain thickness” about 1350.^[2] Dante's earthly paradise is “la divina foresta spessa e viva” (the divine forest, dense and living).^[4] The plural spesse volte “many times” and Foscolo's a spessi tocchi (with repeated strokes) keep the sense “frequent”, now literary.^[4][1]

Spessore, borrowed in 1824, was disapproved by Tommaseo–Bellini in 1873 as a scientific word used in place of grossezza.^[2] The adverb is common in the phrase spesso e volentieri, “often, all too often”.^[4]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Sicilian poets use spesso “frequent” and Giacomo da Lentini the adverb “often”.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses spesso “dense”.^[2]
• 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni uses it for “thick, dense”.^[2]
• About 1350 – “Having a certain thickness” in the translation of Crescenzi.^[2]
• 1824 – Spessore “thickness” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. thick, of more than usual thickness; having a given thickness: Taglia il pane a fette spesse.^[4][5][1]
2. dense, of a certain consistency: Una nebbia spessa copriva la pianura.^[4][1]
3. Of a wine, full-bodied.^[4]
4. (literary) Thick, dense, impenetrable, of a wood or growth.^[4]
5. (literary, plural) Many, frequent; repeated in quick succession: spesse volte.^[4][1]

Adverb

1. often, frequently: D'estate andiamo spesso al lago.^[4][5][1]

Word family

• spessore
• ispessire
• spesseggiare
• spessimetro
• ispessimento

Related words

• spessare
• spessità
• spessitudine

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3588