Etymologically
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tesoro

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Pronunciation

  • /teˈzɔ.ro/[1]

Forms

tesoro m (plural tesori)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure; storehouse”),[2][3][4][1] borrowed from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “store, storehouse; treasure”).[2][3][5] DEI calls it a semi-learned word.[6] In it the Latin diphthong /au/ became /o/, while the latinizing tesauro keeps it.[7] The Latin word also gave French trésor, Occitan tezaur, Catalan tresor, Spanish tesoro and Portuguese tesouro,[3][8] and was borrowed as Old High German treso.[8] The /r/ after the first consonant of the French and Catalan forms (also in Old Venetian and Old Spanish ⟨tresoro⟩) anticipates the later /r/, according to Niedermann, quoted by Meyer-Lübke, while Körting thinks of popular etymology.[8][9] Latin also wrote ⟨thensaurus⟩.[5]

The origin of the Greek word is obscure, perhaps a loan from another language, according to DELI.[2] Nocentini derives it from the root of Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”), and DEI calls it a relic of the pre-Greek substrate.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294, for a large quantity of money.[2][4] The sense “precious things hidden or buried, whose owner cannot be proved” is in Dante's Convivio (1304–1308), and in Giordano da Pisa in 1305 beside tesauro.[2] GDLI quotes Dante: “lo tesoro è nascosto” (the treasure is hidden).[10]

Semantic evolution

Figurative senses came early: Dante already uses the word for a dearly loved person or thing (1293–1294), for spiritual riches (before 1321) and for an encyclopaedic work (1300–1313), the genre of Brunetto Latini's Tresor and Tesoretto.[2] Petrarch calls a person his treasure.[6][11] The public treasury is tesoro from about 1350; in 1831 the purist Lissoni rejected that sense as a Gallicism, and Viani defended it with many examples.[2] Natural riches are tesori in Tasso (1581), and works of art in Tommaseo–Bellini (1879).[2]

Tesoriere (end of the 13th century, Novellino) and tesoreria depend on French trésorier (1170) and trésorerie, from the Late Latin thesaurarius “keeper of the treasure” used by Isidore.[2] In modern Italy the word names the state's funds and, capitalized, the ministry that managed them, as in buono del Tesoro “Treasury bond”; the game caccia al tesoro is a treasure hunt.[12][4][13]

Timeline

  • 1293–1294 – Dante uses tesoro for a much loved person or thing.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses tesoro for a great quantity of money.[2][4]
  • End of the 13th century – Tesoriere appears in the Novellino.[2]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses the word for an encyclopaedic work.[2]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses tesoro for hidden valuables.[2]
  • c. 1350 – Tesoro “public treasury” is recorded.[2]
  • 1581 – Tasso uses the word for natural riches.[2]
  • 1831 – Lissoni rejects tesoro “treasury” as a Gallicism.[2]
  • 1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini record tesoro for a precious work of art.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A treasure, a large store of money, jewels and precious objects, kept with care or hidden: I ragazzi cercavano un tesoro sepolto nel giardino.[4][7][12]
  2. (by extension) A great deal of money: Quella macchina gli è costata un tesoro.[4][7]
  3. (law) A valuable movable object, hidden or buried, whose owner cannot be proved.[4][12][13]
  4. The relics, sacred furnishings and works of art belonging to a church or shrine, and the room where they are kept.[4][7][14]
  5. (often capitalized) The public treasury; the ministry in charge of it.[4][7][1]
  6. (figurative) Something of great value: natural resources, a work of art, a spiritual gift.[12][7][15]
  7. (figurative) A much loved person, or a very kind and helpful one, (colloquial) as a term of endearment, darling: Tesoro, hai visto le mie chiavi?[12][15][1]
  8. (archaeology) In ancient Greece, a treasury building of a sanctuary; in the Mycenaean age, a domed tomb.[4][15]

Word family

  • tesoriere
  • tesoreria
  • tesoretto
  • tesoreggiare
  • tesaurizzare

Usage notes

Fare tesoro di qualcosa means to value something and keep it for later use, especially advice or experience.[14][12][13] Tesauro is the old and literary form.[14][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3771
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 989
  12. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ 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
  15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli