tuttavia

Forms

tuttavia (invariable)^[1] Old Italian also had the shortened tavia.^[2]

Etymology

It is a compound of ⟨tutta⟩, the feminine of tutto “all”, and via “way”.^[3][4][5][6] Wiktionary traces it to Latin tōta via (“the whole way; always”).^[1] The same expression is Spanish todavía and Portuguese todavia, and Old French had toutes voies, later replaced by French toutefois.^[2][1]

The Latin adjective tōtus has no accepted etymology.^[7] Latin via goes back to Proto-Italic ⟨*wijā-⟩ and perhaps to the Proto-Indo-European root *weyh₁- (“to strive after”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Ballata di Saladino, of the 13th century, with the sense “all the same, nevertheless”;^[8][2] DEI cites Brunetto Latini.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian tuttavia was above all an adverb of time, “always, continually”: Dante writes Non lasciavam d'andar perch'ei dicessi, / ma passavam la selva tuttavia “we did not stop walking while he spoke, but kept passing through the wood”.^[9][2] Boccaccio uses it for “still”, and Lorenzo de' Medici's Quant'è bella giovinezza / che si fugge tuttavia speaks of youth slipping away all the time.^[2][4][10] The temporal senses are now literary, and Manzoni still uses it for “to this day”.^[4][11]

Tommaseo notes that the idea of continuation explains how tuttavia came to mean “nevertheless”: an action goes on in spite of what stands against it.^[9] The old conjunction tuttavia che meant “every time that”.^[4][10][2]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Ballata di Saladino uses tuttavia for “nevertheless”.^[8]
• 14th century – Old Italian tuttavia che “every time that” is recorded in the Italian Marco Polo.^[2]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. however, nevertheless, all the same: Il viaggio era lungo, tuttavia nessuno si lamentò.^{[3][4][5][10][1]}
2. Answering a concessive clause: Benché fosse stanco, tuttavia continuò a lavorare.^[3][4][5]
3. Strengthened as e tuttavia or pur tuttavia: una giornata faticosa e tuttavia piacevole.^[3][5][10]

Adverb

1. (literary, archaic) Always, continually.^{[3][4][10][11]}
2. (literary) Still, even now.^[4][11]

Related words

• tutto
• via
• però
• Spanish todavía

Usage notes

As a conjunction tuttavia is usually set off by pauses and may stand inside its clause as well as at its head.^[5] Purtuttavia is also written as one word.^[5][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3937
3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana