Etymologically
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stavolta

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Pronunciation

  • /staˈvɔl.ta/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Italian sta (“this”) + volta (“time”): the phrase meaning “this time” written as one word, with the demonstrative shortened.[2][3][4][1][5] Battaglia's dictionary (GDLI) explains the first part as the colloquial demonstrative sto.[6] The same shortened demonstrative is in stamattina and stasera.[2]

The sources date it differently: Zingarelli gives 1747, GRADIT 1807 and Sabatini–Coletti the 18th century, while DELI, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it only from Migliorini's 1950 appendix to Panzini's dictionary.[7][4][8][2][3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1747 and GRADIT to 1807, in the sense it still has, “this time, on this occasion”.[7][4] DELI's first record is Migliorini's 1950 appendix to Panzini's dictionary of new words.[2]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has not changed: stavolta is the familiar equivalent of questa volta.[4][8][5] Nineteenth-century writers still wrote it as two words: Garibaldi has anche sta volta non m’ingannai “this time too I was not mistaken”.[6] The joined spelling is found in Antonio Ghislanzoni and in Carlo Emilio Gadda.[6]

The dictionaries mark the word as familiar or colloquial.[4][8][7][5] It is common in the phrase per stavolta “just this once”, used when letting something pass.[4][8]

Timeline

  • 1747 – Zingarelli's date for stavolta.[7]
  • 1807 – GRADIT's date for the word.[4]
  • 19th century – Garibaldi writes sta volta as two words.[6]
  • 1950 – Migliorini's appendix to Panzini's dictionary records stavolta.[2][3][9]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (colloquial) This time, on this occasion: Stavolta ho preso il treno giusto.[4][9][8][1]
  2. Per stavolta: just this once, as an exception: Per stavolta chiudo un occhio.[4][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 110
  7. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ 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