stanco

Forms

stanco (feminine stanca, masculine plural stanchi, feminine plural stanche, superlative stanchissimo)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli see it as borrowed from Old Occitan estanc (“exhausted”), the short past participle of estancar (“to exhaust, to dry up”), from estanc (“pool”), from Vulgar Latin *stangum, for classical Latin stagnum (“pond”); the ⟨gn⟩ of the Latin word was reversed to ⟨ng⟩ in Vulgar Latin.^[5][6] The meaning would have passed from “drained, exhausted” to “tired”, as in the synonym stracco and in French épuisé (“exhausted”), from puits (“well”).^[5]

DEI, followed by Meyer-Lübke, assumes instead Vulgar Latin *stancus found across the Romance languages, which can't be an old French loan because of Romanian stâng (“left”); the same word is Old French estanc (“weak, exhausted”).^[7][8] Its origin is unknown: DEI mentions a crossing of “stracco” with manco (“left; lacking”), the explanation Devoto gives, but DELI finds it unconvincing.^[7][9][2] Meyer-Lübke rejected a link with Latin “stagnum” as impossible in form and meaning, and the ⟨g⟩ of Romanian “stâng” and Portuguese estanguido (“exhausted”) is unexplained.^[8][7] Wiktionary explains “stanco” as the Tuscan short participle of stancare.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to the mid-13th century;^{[5][10][2][3]} Monte Andrea's poems compare it to soldiers tired in battle, and DELI's and GRADIT's first date is Dante (1304–1308), with the sense “weakened by effort and in need of rest”.^{[5][10][2][3]}

Semantic evolution

Dante also used mano stanca for the left hand, the weaker one, a sense that is now obsolete: “volgemmo e discendemmo a mano stanca” (“we turned and went down on the left hand”).^[4][11][7] This is the same development as Romanian stâng and Old Italian mano stanca “left hand”.^[8]

The sense “weary of doing something” appears in Manzoni's Promessi sposi (1825–1827), and “no longer able to bear” in 1836.^[2] In 1607 the word was used of running water that has lost its force, and in later use it describes exhausted soil (terreno stanco), a slack market and a worn printing plate.^[2][3][12] Stanco morto means “dead tired”, and nato stanco “born tired” is said jokingly of a lazy person.^[11][6][12] English briefly borrowed the word as stank “weary” (1579).^[13]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – Stanco is first recorded.^[5]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it.^[3][2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses the verb stancare.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani has stanchezza.^[2]
• 1579 – English stank “weary” is recorded.^[13]
• 1607 – It is used of running water that has lost its force.^[2]
• 1825–1827 – Manzoni uses it for “weary of doing something”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. tired, weary: worn out by physical or mental effort and in need of rest: Dopo la partita i giocatori erano stanchi.^[3][6][4]
2. Showing tiredness: Mi ha risposto con una voce stanca.^[3][6]
3. Weary of something or someone, fed up (with di): Sono stanca di aspettare il tram.^[3][6][4]
4. (figurative) Lacking fresh energy or creativity, jaded: una vena poetica ormai stanca.^[3][4][12]
5. Of soil, exhausted by continuous cultivation; of a market, slack; of a printing plate or an old binding, worn.^[3][12][11]
6. (obsolete) left: mano stanca, the left hand.^[4][11][12]

Word family

• stancare
• stanchezza
• stanca
• stancabile
• instancabile
• stancamente

Related words

• stracco
• stagno
• Romanian stâng

Usage notes

Stanco morto means “exhausted”, and nato stanco is a joking label for a lazy person.^[6][11] In Ligurian and on Elba stanco is also a noun meaning “tobacconist's”, from Spanish estanco.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3617
8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET, p. 465