tras-

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin trāns (“across, beyond”), adapted in Italian and with the wider senses that tra- took on.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Sabatini–Coletti place it between the learned trans- and the popular one, and Wiktionary calls the three doublets.^[7][1] DELI notes that Latin ⟨trāns-⟩ was early pronounced ⟨trās-⟩, with ⟨trā-⟩ before voiced consonants.^[8][9]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *trānts, which de Vaan explains as a participle Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂-n̥ts (“crossing”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to cross, pass through”).^[10][1] The same root is in Old Irish tar, Sanskrit तिरस् (tiras), Old High German durh and Old English þurh, the source of the English word through.^[6][1]

Meanings

Prefix

1. Movement beyond something, crossing a limit: trasgredire, trascendere.^[6][5][3][7]
2. Movement from one place to another: trasferire, trasmettere, traslocare.^[6][5][2][3]
3. (figurative) A change from one state to another: trasformare, trascrivere, trasfigurare.^[2][3][7]
4. Passage through a body or material: traspirare, trasparente, traslucido.^[6][2][3]
5. From “passing over”, lack of care, neglect: trascurare, trasandato.^[6][5][2][3]

Word family

• trasferire
• trasformare
• trasgredire
• trasmettere
• trascurare
• traspirare
• trasparente

Related words

• trans-
• tra-
• Latin trans

Usage notes

It is found in words taken from Latin and in modern formations, mostly verbs and their derivatives.^[2][3] It is pronounced /tras/, with a voiced /z/ before a vowel or a voiced consonant.^[7][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill