verde

Forms

verde m or f by sense (plural verdi)^[1] An old and rustic form is verdo.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *virdis, the syncopated form of Latin viridis (“green”) in popular Latin.^[3][4][5][1] The short form was very common in rustic speech: Lucilius already has “vird-”, and the Appendix Probi corrects “virdis” to “viridis”.^[3][6][7] Devoto notes that the loss of the unstressed inner vowel is regular.^[8] Sabatini–Coletti contrast this popular word with the learned viride.^[9]

The same word is found in every Romance language: French vert, Occitan vert, Catalan vert, Spanish verde, Portuguese verde, Sardinian birde and Romanian verde.^[4][10][11] The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance adjective “green” from these forms.^[11]

The Latin adjective comes from vireō (“to be green; to be vigorous”).^[3][4][1] That verb has no secure comparison outside Latin, and its origin is unknown.^[3][4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The locution condursi al verde “to be reduced to poverty” is already in Meo dei Tolomei, who died before 1279.^[3] The colour adjective, “of the colour of growing grass”, is in the Fiore of the late 13th century and in Dante's Inferno (1300–1313), with its meadow “over the green enamel” (sovra 'l verde smalto).^[3][12]

Semantic evolution

Bencivenni used the adjective in 1310 for unripe fruit and for fresh plants, and Dante used the noun for vegetation and for the vigour of life.^[3] The sense “young, youthful” is recorded in Firenzuola (1518–1525), and anni verdi and la verde età are the years of youth.^[3][13] From the pallor of a sick or angry face came verde di rabbia and verde d'invidia.^[3][5]

Essere al verde “to be broke” first meant “to be at the end”: the notes to the Malmantile explain it by the candles used at Florentine auctions, whose foot was dyed green, so that bidding closed when the flame reached the green.^[3][4] In the 20th century verde took on the senses “agricultural” (1963, Europa verde), “green area” of a town, and “ecological” (benzina verde).^[3][5][13] The political sense, i Verdi, is a calque of German grün.^[14]

Timeline

• 1238 – The derivative verdello is used as an adjective in the accounts of Matasala.^[3]
• Before 1279 – Meo dei Tolomei uses condursi al verde.^[3]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the adjective in the Inferno.^[3]
• 1310 – Bencivenni uses it for unripe and for fresh.^[3]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses the noun for vegetation.^[3]
• 1518–1525 – Firenzuola uses it for youthful.^[3]
• 1612 – Antonio Neri uses the noun for the colour.^[3]
• 1891 – The senses “livid” and “green compound” are recorded.^[3]
• 1963 – The senses “agricultural” and “green area” are recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. green, of the colour of grass and leaves: Ha comprato una giacca verde.^[5][14][9]
2. Of fruit, unripe; of plants, fresh, not dried; of wood, newly cut: Queste pere sono ancora verdi.^[5][9][13]
3. Of food, coloured green with herbs or vegetables: lasagne verdi.^[5]
4. (figurative) Of a person, livid, pale with illness or a strong emotion: verde di rabbia, verde dal terrore.^[5][9][13]
5. (literary) Young, youthful; vigorous: gli anni verdi.^[5][9][13]
6. Covered with vegetation; of a part of a town, set aside for parks and gardens.^[5][9]
7. Ecological, not polluting: energia verde.^[5][13]
8. Relating to agriculture.^[9][13]
9. (politics) Of the environmentalist movement and its parties.^[9][14]

Noun

1. The colour green.^[5][1]
2. greenery, vegetation; a green area of a town: il verde cittadino.^[5][1]
3. The green light of a traffic signal.^[15]
4. (politics) A member or supporter of an environmentalist party.^[5][15]
5. (heraldry) vert.^[1]

Word family

• verdastro
• verdazzurro
• verdello
• verdemare
• verderame
• verdesca
• verdicchio
• verdiccio
• verdognolo
• verdolino
• verdone
• verdeggiare
• verdeggiante
• verdura
• verdume
• inverdire
• rinverdire

Related words

• verza
• virente
• viridario
• viride
• Latin viridis
• French vert

Usage notes

Essere al verde or restare al verde means “to have no money left”.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1045
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 467
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org