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Etymology and origin of the Italian word usura

usura1 usury, interest

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1200s early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi
Borrowed from
Latin usura
Ultimate origin
Latin ūtor
Etymology tree of usura1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ūtor
Latin ūsūra
Italian usura
From the same root · usura1
Latin abūtor ← ūtor
Latin ūsitātus ← ūtor
Latin ūsus ← ūtor
Latin ūtēnsilis ← ūtor
Latin ūtilis ← ūtor

Pronunciation

Forms

usura f (plural usure)[1]

Etymology

The word for interest and usury is borrowed from Latin ūsūra (“use, enjoyment; interest”), a learned word.[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun is formed from ūtor (“to use, enjoy”) with -ūra.[6][1] Its first sense was the enjoyment of capital on loan, later the interest paid on such capital, without any negative sense.[2][3][6][1] The Latin verb is an Italic word without sure connections.[2]

The same word is French usure, Occitan uzura, Catalan usura, Spanish usura and Portuguese usura.[3][7][8] Nocentini numbers it as the first of the spelling, and DELI as the second.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese Libro of Uguccione da Lodi (early 13th century): Qi pò aver dinari de livrar ad usura “Whoever has money to lend at interest”.[9][10] DELI's first date is 1240, in the records of a Sienese family, for the excessive interest asked for a loan.[2]

Semantic evolution

The Church Fathers, relying on Deuteronomy 23:20 (non foenerabis fratri tuo ad usuram “you shall not lend upon interest to your brother”), condemned every loan of money for a fee, and the word took on the negative sense that prevailed in the Middle Ages.[2][3] This explains the search for euphemisms: Iacopo Passavanti lists contracts disguised as exchange, interest, deposit, purchase and sale, partnership and others.[2] After the Reformation recognised the moral legitimacy of interest, the sense narrowed to excessive interest.[3]

Old Italian also used the word for the yield of a crop beyond the seed sown, for any surplus in a repayment, and ironically for a requital.[9] Dante writes Grave usura tanto non si tolle / contra 'l piacer di Dio “Heavy usury is not exacted so much against God's pleasure”.[10] The derivatives usuraio and usuriere are in Dante and the Fiore.[2] In modern law usura is the crime of exacting disproportionate advantages from a person in need.[4][5]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the word.[9]
  • 1240 – The word is recorded in the records of a Sienese family.[2][4]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses usuraio and usuriere.[2]
  • 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses usuraio.[2]
  • 1348–1353 – Usurare “to lend at usury” is recorded in F. Belforti.[2]
  • Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses usurario.[2]
  • 1879 – Usuraio is recorded for a greedy miser.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) interest: the yield of capital lent.[4][11][12]
  2. usury: interest far above the current or legal rate: viveva prestando soldi a usura ai vicini.[4][11][5]
  3. The activity of lending money at such rates, and (law) the crime of exacting disproportionate advantages from someone in need.[4][5][13]
  4. In a usura (figurative): abundantly, with interest: l'hanno ripagato a usura.[11][5][12]

Word family

  • usuraio
  • usurario
  • usuriere
  • usureggiare
  • antiusura

usura2 wear

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1908 Panzini, Dizionario moderno
Borrowed from
French usure
Ultimate origin
Latin ūtor

Pronunciation

Forms

usura f (plural usure)[1]

Etymology

The word for wear is borrowed from French usure (“wear, wearing away”), from user (“to use; to wear out”).[2][3][4][14] The French noun is recorded from 1530.[2][4][10] DELI does not give it an article of its own but treats it under uso, as an unfortunate adaptation of the French word;[2][3] Nocentini numbers it 2.[2][3]

The French verb corresponds to usare, from Late Latin ūsō (“to use”), formed on Latin ūsus (“use”), the past participle of ūtor (“to use”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Panzini's dictionary of new words of 1908 records it as a mechanics' term for the wear of the metal parts of a machine through friction in long use, adding that the verb usurare is made from it.[2][10][14] GRADIT dates the word 1875.[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already knew usare in the sense “to wear out, consume”, as in usare la vita mia in pena ed in corotto “to wear out my life in pain and mourning” (before 1266, Folco di Calabria).[2] The French loan spread from mechanics to any material, tyres, fabrics or teeth, and to tests of resistance to wear (prove di usura).[12][5]

The figurative sense “attrition, gradual wearing down” is recorded in 1961, as in guerra di usura “war of attrition”.[2][5][11] The verb usurare is recorded from 1931, and its participle usurante from 1979.[14][3]

Timeline

  • 1530 – French usure is recorded.[2][4]
  • 1908 – Panzini records Italian usura as a mechanics' term.[2][3]
  • 1931 – Usurare “to wear out” is recorded.[14]
  • 1961 – The figurative sense “attrition” is recorded.[2]
  • 1979 – Usurante is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. wear: the gradual deterioration of a material, a surface or a machine part through friction or long use: l'usura delle pastiglie dei freni.[4][11][15][12]
  2. (figurative) attrition: the gradual wearing down of the body, the mind or a situation.[4][11][5]
  3. (numismatics) The loss of weight of a coin through wear or fraud.[11][12]

Word family

  • usurare
  • usurante
  • usurato

Usage notes

Both words are pronounced with a voiced /z/.[16][1] Usura is also a form of the verb usurare.[17] In the dialects of Belluno and Feltre, in Ladin and in Friulian a separate usùra (lezùra, usdàra…) means a joint or knuckle, from a Late Latin derivative of lusus “game”.[18]

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 p q r s t u v w x y 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 e f g h i j k l m Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  10. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3966
  15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  16. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1031
  17. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  18. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Usura.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/usura. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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