violento

Forms

violento (feminine violenta, masculine plural violenti, feminine plural violente, superlative violentissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin violentus (“forceful, violent”).^[2][3][4][1] The counterparts in the other Romance languages are French violent and Spanish violento.^[3] The French word is recorded from 1314.^[5][6]

DELI and Devoto describe the Latin adjective as formed like opulentus, from the same root as violō (“to violate”).^[2][7] The OLD and Wiktionary analyse it as the verb with the suffix -entus.^[8][1] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from vīs (“strength, force”).^[3][9][10] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *wijelo- and Proto-Indo-European *uiH-elo-, and the noun to *uiH-s (“strength”).^[11]

The Latin abstract noun violentia gave violenza, while violentare was formed in Italian.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Questioni filosofiche from south-eastern Tuscany, written after 1298.^[12] DELI's first dates are from Dante (1300–1313), both for a person given to brute force and for something that happens with furious force.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the noun only once, in Inferno XI: Di violenti il primo cerchio è tutto (“the first circle is all of the violent”).^[2][13] The violent fill the seventh circle of his Hell, divided by the object of their violence.^[13][14]

In Old Italian the adjective already described events and natural forces of great power, foods and drugs of strong effect, and, with a passive sense, a death caused by violence.^[12] The TLIO also records a positive use from the Gospels, for someone who acts with great force of will.^[12] The figurative sense of anything strong or intense dates from the 14th century, and “very energetic, aggressive” from 1810.^[2]

In 20th-century politics non violento names someone who rejects violence as a method, from non violenza, which renders French non-violence.^[14][2] English borrowed the noun violento in the 17th century, but the loan is obsolete.^[15]

Timeline

• After 1298 – The Questioni filosofiche of south-eastern Tuscany give the first record.^[12]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the adjective and, once, the noun.^[2]
• 14th century – The Maestruzzo uses it of anything strong or intense.^[2]
• 1810 – The sense “very energetic, aggressive” is recorded in the Milanese press.^[2]
• Before 1661 – English records the noun violento.^[15]
• About 1920 – Non violenza is formed after French non-violence.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a person, given to using force to impose their will on others.^[4][9][16]
2. Typical of violent people, or based on violence: un temperamento violento, metodi violenti.^[4][10][16]
3. Said or done with violence; of speech or writing, harsh and vehement.^[4][9][17]
4. Of an event or natural phenomenon, happening with great force and impetus: un terremoto violento.^[4][10][16]
5. Of a death, caused by violence or an accident, not natural.^[16][18][17]
6. (figurative) Of a feeling, overwhelming.^[4][9]
7. (figurative) Strong, intense: of a fever, very high; of a colour, very bright; of a sound, very loud.^[4][10][16]

Noun

1. A violent person.^[4][9][1]
2. (sociology) A young person who riots and loots during demonstrations.^[17]

Word family

• violentare
• violenza
• violentatore
• violentemente

Related words

• violare
• Latin vis
• French violent

Usage notes

An older form violente survives in literature and was still sometimes heard in 19th-century popular speech.^[19][9] The DEI also lists an old adjective violento “violated, raped”, from violentare, used by Matteo Villani.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4061
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ 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, 895
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
19. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET