Etymologically
Log in

unico

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 19:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

unico (feminine unica, masculine plural unici, feminine plural uniche)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin ūnicus (“one and only; singular, unparalleled”), from ūnus (“one”) with the adjective suffix -icus.[2][3][4][5][1] Prati notes that it came into Italian through literature rather than speech.[6] The same Latin adjective gave French unique (14th century) and Spanish único, and it was also borrowed into Brittonic.[7][3] Devoto traces the Latin numeral to an older stem oino-, which has relatives in Germanic and Slavic, and Wiktionary compares Proto-Germanic *ainagaz, formed in the same way.[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the first sense, “the only one of its kind, without any other like it”, to Iacopone da Todi (before 1306) and Dante (before 1321).[2][4] The GDLI quotes Iacopone's love that is “’l primo, / unico, etterno” (the first, the only, the eternal), and Dante's “quell'unica sposa / de lo Spirito Santo” (that only bride of the Holy Spirit), the Virgin Mary.[9] DEI records it in the 14th-century lives of the Desert Fathers.[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “without equal in worth or virtue” appears in Petrarch (1374), who used it only of the Virgin.[2] Following him, the word became fashionable in the 15th century and turned into a compliment among the Petrarchists: Serafino Aquilano addressed a painter as “Unico Bernardin”, and the poet Bernardo Accolti was known as l'Unico Aretino.[2] The noun use, “the only one who does or thinks something”, is recorded in 1891, and “unique object or animal” in 1970.[2]

The derivatives unicamente “solely” (before 1535, Berni) and unicità “uniqueness” (before 1565, Varchi) followed;[2][3] Varchi apologized for coining a new word for a new and unique person.[2][3] Political fronte unico “united front” goes back to Russian through the French front unique, but a military sense of the phrase is recorded earlier, in 1916.[2] Senso unico “one-way” is modelled on French sens unique.[10] Tommaseo noted that the plural was used in spite of the sense, for the only sons of different parents or for one's uniche speranze.[11]

Timeline

  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses unico for “the only one”.[2][4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it in the Purgatorio.[2][9]
  • 1374 – Petrarch uses it for “without equal”.[2]
  • Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses unicamente.[2]
  • Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi coins unicità.[2]
  • 1891 – The noun use “the only one who…” is recorded.[2]
  • 1916 – Fronte unico is recorded in its military sense.[2]
  • 1998 – Unico becomes the name of the Italian tax return form.[12]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. only, sole, the single one that exists or that is meant: Era l'unico treno della sera.[4][10][12][1]
  2. unique, without equal in value or quality: Da qui si gode una vista unica.[4][13][1]
  3. (emphatic) Of a person: exceptional, one of a kind: Quel maestro era davvero unico.[4][12]

Noun

  1. The only one who does, says or thinks something: Marco è stato l'unico a rispondere.[4][12][14][1]
  2. The only specimen or the only one left: Questo vaso è l'unico che si è salvato.[4][12]

Word family

  • unicamente
  • unicità

Usage notes

Common phrases are figlio unico “only child”, senso unico “one-way (street)”, atto unico “one-act play”, testo unico “consolidated law” and più unico che raro “exceptional, one in a million”.[4][10][13] In speech l'unica stands for “the only thing to do”.[13][15] Unico is also the name of the Italian tax return form, an acronym of unificato compensativo (1998).[12][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1029
  7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3953
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 540
  10. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 4, 1665
  12. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli