tata

Forms

tata f (plural tate)^[1] In the sense “father” it is masculine, with the plural tati.^[2][3] Dialect forms include Abruzzese tatà, with the stress moved to the second syllable, and southern tatë.^[4]

Etymology

It is a word of children's speech, made by doubling the syllable ⟨ta⟩, which babies find easy to say.^[5][6][7] Latin already had tata (“daddy; male nurse”), and Wiktionary and DEI take the Italian word as from Latin tata (“father”).^[1][8] DELI and Nocentini point out that such a word can arise anew at any time, as mamma and babbo did, so the Italian word need not continue the Latin one.^[5][6]

Meyer-Lübke held that only the southern and eastern forms come directly from the Latin word, while the others are independent nursery formations.^[9] The Latin word survives in the southern dialects with the sense “father”,^[6][4] in Romanian tată, where it became the ordinary word for a father without affection,^[6] and in Spanish tata and Spanish taita.^[6][9] The dialect of Veglia had Dalmatian tuota.^[9][8]

Similar words are found far beyond the Romance languages: Ancient Greek τάτα (táta) and τέττα (tétta), Sanskrit तात (tāta), Cornish tat and Bulgarian татко (tatko).^[7][1] Wiktionary traces the Latin word to Proto-Italic *tata and Proto-Indo-European *tata-, imitating baby talk.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1529.^[2] The first dated record in DELI is in a Dialogo of Aretino of 1536, where tata means “little girl”: “perché la mia tata, la mia putta, la mia pincina oda” (so that my little girl, my lass, my little one may hear).^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

In 1612 Campanella used the word for a father,^[11][6] and in 1619 Buonarroti the Younger used it for a woman who looks after a child, naming tate together with nurses.^[5][12] A note to the Malmantile (1688) explained it as a word nurses use to teach babies to talk, as babbo for padre, and took it there as “brother”.^[5]

In literature, especially by authors from central and southern Italy, the sense “father, daddy” prevails, as it does in those dialects.^[5] De Amicis uses it so in a story of Cuore, and Panzini noted that in Rome tata meant “daddy” but was going out of use.^[3][13] In Genoese it was the husband of the wet nurse, and in Tuscany an elder brother.^[13] At Montale tata was used in 1865 to call the parents or the nurse.^[8]

In standard Italian the feminine has kept the sense “nanny”, any woman other than the mother who looks after a child, and also “big sister”.^[11][7]

Timeline

• 1536 – Aretino uses tata for a little girl.^[5]
• 1612 – Campanella uses it for a father.^[11]
• 1619 – Buonarroti the Younger uses tata beside tutrice and tate beside nutrici.^[5]
• 1665 – The masculine tato is recorded before this year.^[6]
• 1688 – The notes to the Malmantile explain tata as a nurses' word.^[5]
• 1865 – Tata is recorded at Montale as a word to call parents or the nurse.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (familiar) A woman who looks after a child; a nanny or governess: Oggi la tata porta i bambini al parco.^[11][3][10]
2. (familiar) An elder sister.^[11][10][2]
3. A little girl.^[11][14]
4. (masculine, regional) Daddy, father, especially in Rome and the south.^[11][3][2]
5. (masculine, regional) An elder brother, especially in Tuscany.^[11][13]

Word family

• tato
• tatina

Related words

• mamma
• babbo
• Latin tata

Usage notes

Tata is a word of the nursery and of family talk.^[2][7] Its masculine counterpart tato, recorded before 1665, is used in Tuscany, like tata, for any grown person who keeps a child company.^[6] Southern dialects build words for “grandfather” on it, such as Abruzzese tata grossë and Calabrian tata granni.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET, p. 482
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3730
9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 764
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli