venuta

Forms

venuta f (plural venute)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian venire (“to come”) + -uta, as the feminine past participle used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The verb continues Latin veniō (“to come”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the noun, “the act of coming”, to Dante (1300–1313), and Zingarelli to before 1250.^[6][4] The GDLI quotes it from Giacomo da Lentini, who hopes “che la mia venuta / dea placire” (that my coming may give pleasure).^[7] In the Inferno Dante fears “che la venuta non sia folle” (that the journey may be folly), and in the Purgatorio he writes “Or ti piaccia gradir la sua venuta” (now may it please you to welcome his coming).^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

The word also names the coming of Christ, his incarnation, and the seconda venuta at the end of time.^[9][10] Prima or dopo la venuta di Cristo means before or after the incarnation.^[4][11] In the 16th century it was also a military word for a road leading up to a fortress.^[12][4] GRADIT records technical senses: a sudden inflow of water into a tunnel or mine from a pocket in the rock, and the import of goods or the duty paid on it.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses venuta for “coming”.^[6]
• 16th century – Segni uses it for an access road.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. arrival, coming: Tutti aspettavano la venuta del vescovo.^{[2][11][3][1]}
2. la venuta di Cristo: the incarnation of Christ.^[2][11][10]
3. (uncommon) The coming of a period of time.^[11][3]
4. (mining) A sudden inflow of water into a tunnel.^[2]
5. (obsolete) The import of goods, or the duty paid on it.^[2]
6. (obsolete, military) An access road to a fortress.^[2][4]

Related words

• venire
• venuto

Usage notes

Venuta al mondo means “birth”.^[11] Venuta is also the feminine of the noun venuto “one who has come”, as in una nuova venuta.^[2][3] DEI gives the military sense “access road” a numbered entry of its own, comparing Piedmontese vnüa and French avenue.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ 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, 758
8. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b c d e 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4015