trecento

Forms

trecento (invariable; as a noun m invariable)^[2][3] An old northern form trexento occurs in the 13th-century serventese on the wars between the Lambertazzi and the Geremei of Bologna.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin trecentōs (“three hundred”), in the accusative plural, a compound of trēs (“three”) and centum (“hundred”).^[5][2][3][6] Wiktionary gives the intermediate form as Vulgar Latin trecentum, and the OLD already finds it as an indeclinable form in Scaevola's legal writings.^[1][6] Its ending was made like that of the other hundreds.^[3][7] Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani treat the word as a compound of tre and cento.^[8][9][10] The same Latin word is Spanish trescientos and Portuguese trezentos.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, tells of a citizen of Bari who went on pilgrimage and left three hundred bezants with a friend (lasciò trecento bisanti a un suo amico).^[4][11]

Semantic evolution

Beside the number, il Trecento names the 14th century, the years from 1301 to 1400, by the hundreds of its years.^[4][11] DELI dates this use to 1840, in the Tramater dictionary.^[4][11] Tommaseo noted in 1861 that it was used above all of the language and the arts: writers, manuscripts and paintings of the Trecento.^[11] Derivatives followed: trecentismo, the imitation of 14th-century language, in 1829, trecentista in the 18th century, and trecentesco in 1961, while trecentesimo (1348–53) comes from Latin trecentēsimus.^[5]

English took trecento for 14th-century Italian art and literature by 1841, after Byron had written of the Trecentisti in 1821.^[12][13] French has had it since 1895 for art and literature, and since 1976 for music, and German uses Trecento too.^[13] As a round number trecento volte means “very many times”.^[9][3]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Novellino has trecento.^[4]
• 13th century – Trexento appears in a serventese of Bologna.^[4]
• 1348–1353 – The ordinal trecentesimo is recorded.^[5]
• 1821 – Byron uses Trecentisti in English.^[12]
• 1829 – Trecentismo is recorded.^[5]
• 1840 – Trecento is recorded for the 14th century.^[4][13]
• 1841 – English trecento is first recorded.^[12][13]
• 1895 – French trecento is recorded for art and literature.^[13]

Meanings

Numeral

1. three hundred, 300 (Roman CCC): Il treno ha percorso trecento chilometri.^[2][8][3]
2. After a noun, as an ordinal: three hundredth (pagina trecento).^[2][8][3]
3. With the noun understood: three hundred units, people, or the like.^[2][8]
4. As a round number, a great many: trecento volte.^[9][3][10]

Noun

1. The number three hundred, and the sign that writes it.^[2][8][3]
2. Il Trecento (with a capital): the 14th century, especially of Italian history, art and literature.^[2][8][14]

Word family

• trecentesco
• trecentismo
• trecentista
• trecentistico

Related words

• trecentesimo
• tre
• cento
• Latin trecenti
• English trecento

Usage notes

I trecento are the three hundred Spartans who fell with Leonidas at Thermopylae.^[14][15][11] In compounds the word joins other numerals: trecentouno (301), milletrecento (1300), trecentomila (300,000).^[14]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b c d e Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli