stile

Forms

stile m (plural stili)^[1] The older form stilo was also used for “style” and is now archaic in this sense.^[2][3][4] GDLI also records old stelo and stillo.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin stilus (“stylus for writing”), in the figurative sense “manner of writing”;^[6][7][8][2] Nocentini and GRADIT treat it as a variant of stilo specialised in that sense.^[6][7][8][2] In Latin the word was a pointed instrument, in particular the iron or bone stylus used on wax tablets;^[8][5][6] Cicero already used it for writing and composing, and later it meant a way of writing.^[8][5][6] The final /e/ may be due to French style, recorded in 1346, according to DEI and Sabatini–Coletti, and Wiktionary takes the word straight from French.^{[9][3][10][1]} The spelling with ⟨y⟩ in French, from which English style comes, arose from confusion with Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”).^[6][11][1] The same Latin word gave Spanish estilo, and Italian also inherited it as stelo “stalk”.^[6][12][1]

De Vaan sees a common root meaning “sharp object” in this word, Latin stimulus (“goad”) and Latin stīva (“plough handle”), but whether they belong together is uncertain; a link with Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to sting”), the root of Latin instīgō, has been argued, without positive evidence.^[13][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word before 1313;^[6][7][8] DELI's first record is Dante, with the sense of the quality of expression that results from a writer's choices.^[6][7][8] In the first canto of the Inferno Dante tells Virgil that from him alone he took “lo bello stile che m'ha fatto onore” (“the fine style that has brought me honour”).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Dante's dolce stil novo (Purgatorio XXIV) named the poetry of his circle and later gave the critics' terms stil novo (1896), stilnovo and stilnovista (1942).^[8][6] Petrarch already used stile for a habitual way of acting.^[8][4][9] The word then spread to the arts: painting and architecture (Lomazzo, 1584), music (Doni, before 1647), the reckoning of the start of the year (stilo before 1582, stile 1750) and furniture, where Panzini in 1905 called stile impero a French neologism.^[8][14] From English came the sporting sense, first of the action of racehorses (1905), and the sense of elegance and class is recorded in 1960.^[8]

Derivatives often came from other languages: stilistica (1855) is a calque of German Stilistik, stilista “fashion designer” of English stylist, while stilistico (1883) was still called an ugly neologism by Carducci in 1891.^[8][6] In music Italian stile was rendered in French as style (1703), and German borrowed it as Stile.^[14]

Timeline

• Before 1313 – Dante uses stile for a manner of writing.^[6][7][8]
• Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for a habitual way of acting.^[8]
• 1584 – Lomazzo uses it for the style of painters and architects.^[8][14]
• Before 1647 – Doni uses it for a musical style.^[8][14]
• 1855 – Stilistica is recorded.^[8][6]
• 1905 – Panzini records stile impero and the sporting sense.^[8]
• 1965 – Stilista is used for a designer.^[8][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. style: the characteristic forms of expression of a writer, an artist, a school or a period: Si riconosce subito lo stile di quel regista.^[7][2][3]
2. (literature) In ancient and medieval poetics, each of the levels of composition, such as the sublime, the middle and the low style.^[7][2]
3. A habitual way of behaving or living: Non è nel suo stile arrivare in ritardo.^[7][3]
4. A personal way of dressing; the cut of a garment.^[7]
5. elegance, class, distinction: È una persona di grande stile.^[7][3]
6. The style of a piece of furniture or an object, named after a period or a person: un divano stile Luigi XVI.^[2][15][16]
7. (sport) The technique of an exercise or a sport, stile libero, freestyle swimming.^[3][15][8]
8. (history) A way of reckoning the beginning of the year, such as the Florentine style.^[3][15][7]
9. (literary, rare) A stylus.^[16]

Word family

• stilista
• stilistica
• stilistico
• stilizzare
• stilizzazione
• stilema
• stilnovo
• stilnovista
• stilnovismo
• stilliberista

Related words

• stilo
• stelo
• stiletto
• Latin stilus
• French style

Usage notes

In stile describes furniture made today in the manner of a past period, and vecchio stile something old-fashioned.^[15][17] DEI also records a stile meaning a fir pole used in scaffolding (1681).^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3635
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli