Etymologically
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uguale

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Pronunciation

  • /uˈɡwa.le/[1]
  • Regional: /uɡˈɡwa.le/[1]

Forms

uguale m or f by sense (plural uguali)[1] The variant eguale is less common, and the old forms include Old Italian iguale, Old Italian equale, Old Italian guale and Old Italian aguale.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin aequālis (“equal, even, level”), from aequus (“level, even, equal”), formed as sociālis from socius.[6][7][8][1] The old outcome was Old Italian iguale, later made eguale to bring it closer to Latin, as French égal replaced Old French ivel;[7][6] the standard form assimilated the first vowel to the /u/ of the following syllable.[7][6][9] Devoto notes the softening of ⟨qu⟩ to ⟨gu⟩ as in seguo from Latin sequor, and Körting thought instead of a crossing with Latin ūnus (“one”).[9][10]

The same word is Old Occitan egal and engal, Catalan igual, Spanish igual, Portuguese igual and Friulian auâl.[5][7][11] The Romance verbs presuppose Vulgar Latin *aequaliāre, the source of uguagliare.[6] From the same adjective the LEI derives the Tuscan and Corsican adverb aguale, avale “now”, from a phrase meaning “at the present hour”, and the northern gualivo “level, smooth”.[5][11][12] De Vaan finds no convincing etymology for the Latin adjective.[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Ristoro d'Arezzo (1282): Quello primo cielo è diviso en dodeci parti uguali (“That first heaven is divided into twelve equal parts”).[6][5] The TLIO's first example of the word in any form is in Girardo Patecchio's Splanamento, of Cremona, in the 13th century, and iguale is in Thomas Latini around 1280.[4][5] Dante prefers iguale, which he uses nine times, beside equale.[6]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio's Ghismonda, in the Decameron, reminds her father that all souls were created con iguali forze, con iguali potenzie, con iguali virtù (“with equal strength, equal powers, equal virtues”).[14] The sense “constant, unchanging” is in the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi (about 1350), “uniform” in 1550, and “level, smooth” in 1602.[6] The noun “an equal, one of the same rank” was recorded by Rigutini and Fanfani in 1875, and the adverb “in the same way” only in 1961.[6]

The mathematical use (due più due è uguale a quattro) and the legal sense of the derivative uguaglianza, equality before the law (1875), belong to the modern period.[6][15][16]

Timeline

  • About 1280 – Iguale appears in Thomas Latini.[5]
  • 1282 – Ristoro d'Arezzo uses uguale.[6][8]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses iguale and igualmente.[6]
  • About 1350 – Uguale means “constant, unchanging” in the translation of Crescenzi.[6]
  • 1598 – Florio records uguagliare “to make equal”.[6]
  • 1602 – The sense “level, smooth” is recorded.[6]
  • 1875 – Rigutini and Fanfani record the noun uguale “an equal” and uguaglianza for equality before the law.[6]
  • 1961 – The adverbial use is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. equal, the same, identical (with a): Ho comprato due tazze uguali.[8][2][17][1]
  2. The same for everyone or at all times, unchanging: Il prezzo del biglietto è uguale per adulti e bambini.[8][2][15]
  3. Uniform, steady, constant: Il motore girava con un ritmo sempre uguale.[8][2][17]
  4. level, even, smooth: Il pavimento non è uguale in tutti i punti.[8][2][3][1]
  5. (mathematics) Equal, è uguale a introduces the result of an operation: Tre per quattro è uguale a dodici. (geometry) Of figures, congruent.[8][17][1]

Adverb

  1. In the same way, equally: Questi due vestiti costano uguale.[8][2]

Noun

  1. (usually plural) An equal, a person of the same rank or class: Tratta tutti come suoi uguali.[8][1]
  2. (mathematics) The equals sign.[1]

Word family

  • uguagliare
  • uguaglianza
  • ugualmente
  • ugualità
  • disuguale
  • ineguale
  • uguagliatore
  • gualivo
  • egualitario
  • egualizzare
  • eguale
  • equo
  • Latin aequālis

Usage notes

Per me è uguale means “it's all the same to me”, and uguali come due gocce d'acqua “as alike as two peas”.[15][8][3] Eguale is the less common form.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  4. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1006
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1026
  13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  17. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse