tristezza

Forms

tristezza f (plural tristezze)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tristitia (“sadness”), the popular form beside the learned doublet tristizia.^[2][3][1][4] The same word is French tristesse, Old Occitan tristesa, Catalan tristesa, Spanish tristeza and Portuguese tristeza.^[5][6] That noun is formed from Latin trīstis + -itia, from the adjective meaning “sad”.^[7][1] By its form the Italian word can also be read as triste or tristo with the suffix -ezza, which is how Treccani derives it.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is tristeza in an anonymous 13th-century canzone printed by Monaci, for the state of mind of someone who is sad.^[9][4] Guittone d'Arezzo has the form tristessa, and the form tristezza appears around 1350 in the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi.^[10][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian had many forms: tristeza, tristessa, tristèga in a northern translation of Gregory the Great, and beside them the learned trestizia and tristizia in Giordano da Pisa (1305–1306) and other early writers.^[10][9] Boccaccio also used tristezza for wickedness or a wicked deed, a sense modern Italian gives to tristizia.^[5][8]

Tommaseo distinguished tristezza, which shuns pleasure, from malinconia, which finds a kind of pleasure in sad thoughts.^[11] In medicine the word was once a name for depression.^[12]

Timeline

• 13th century – Tristeza appears in an anonymous canzone.^[9]
• 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses the learned trestizia.^[9]
• c. 1350 – Tristezza appears in the Italian Pietro de' Crescenzi.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. sadness, sorrow: the state of mind of someone who is sad or downcast; also its expression in the face: Nei suoi occhi si leggeva una gran tristezza.^{[2][13][3][1]}
2. The gloominess of something that inspires sadness: la tristezza di una stazione deserta.^[2][13][3]
3. Something sad or painful; in the plural, the sorrows of life: È una tristezza vedere il paese abbandonato.^[2][13][8]
4. (archaic) wickedness, or a wicked act.^[2][13][3]

Related words

• triste
• tristizia
• tristo
• Latin tristitia

Usage notes

In the old sense of wickedness the current form is tristizia.^[8] The opposite is allegria.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3906
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ 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
14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli