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tizio

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word tizio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1767, Alessandro Verri
Borrowed from
Latin Titius
Ultimate origin
Latin Titus

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtit.t͡sjo/[1]

Forms

tizio m (plural tizi, feminine tizia)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Titius, the name of a Roman gens, formed from the first name Titus.[2][3][4][5] The Italian jurist Irnerius used the name in made-up legal examples, together with Caius and Sempronius, and Nocentini says that Late Latin already used the three for an unspecified person.[2][3] The GDLI cites Panzini for the triad in Druerio, a Bolognese jurist of the second half of the 11th century.[6] The second name was generic already in the Roman wedding formula, where the bride said that wherever her husband was Caius, she would be Caia.[2] Tommaseo explained that because the law used these names to set out general cases, the first two became common names for a third and a fourth person, sometimes with contempt.[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Tizio e Sempronio, for unspecified people, in Alessandro Verri (1767), with the full Tizio, Caio e Sempronio in 1867.[2] GRADIT gives 1755, in Passeroni's Cicerone, and Zingarelli 1554, so the sources disagree on the date.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

As a common noun, a tizio was a person of no importance by 1879, when Tommaseo's dictionary recorded it.[2][7] Manzoni has fosse duca di Mantova, Tizio o Sempronio “whether the Duke of Mantua were Tizio or Sempronio”.[6] Today the lowercase word, with the feminine tizia, is the everyday name for someone one cannot or will not name, often with a slightly dismissive tone.[4][9][10]

Timeline

  • 11th century – Bolognese jurists use Titius, Caius and Sempronius in legal examples.[6][2]
  • 1755 – GRADIT's first record, in Passeroni's Cicerone.[4]
  • 1767 – Alessandro Verri writes Tizio e Sempronio.[2]
  • 1867 – Tizio, Caio e Sempronio appears in the newspaper L'Adige.[2]
  • 1879 – Tommaseo's dictionary records tizio “a person of no account”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (singular, usually capitalised) Tizio, Caio e Sempronio: anybody, any people at all: Non raccontare i fatti tuoi a Tizio, Caio e Sempronio.[4][9][10]
  2. A person one does not know or does not want to name, a guy (feminine tizia): Al bar c'era un tizio che ti somigliava.[4][9][10]
  3. (derogatory) A person of no importance: Non mi faccio dare ordini da un tizio qualunque.[9][8][11]
  • Latin Titius
  • Latin Titus

Usage notes

GRADIT also lists two technical words spelled tizio, both from Latin: an adjective “of the Tities”, one of the three ancient Roman tribes, and a noun for a priest of the college of the Titii.[4] With a capital, Tizio is also the giant Tityus of myth, as in Dante's Non ci fare ire a Tizio né a Tifo.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 445
  6. ^ 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, 1088
  7. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Tizio.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/tizio. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·