voto

Forms

voto m (plural voti)^[1] The old form Old Italian boto is found in G. Villani and others, and Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti still list it as archaic.^[2][3][4] The GDLI also records old votto and vuto and an old plural votora.^[5]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin vōtum (“vow; wish”), the noun use of the neuter past participle of voveō (“to vow, consecrate”).^[6][7][8][1] The Latin noun meant a solemn promise to the gods, an offering, and a wish or hope, senses that Italian keeps.^[6][7] In Late Latin the plural also meant a promise of marriage and the wedding itself;^[6][7][9] DELI finds no later trace of this in Italian, but it lives on in Spanish bodas and Portuguese bodas ‘wedding’.^[6][7][9]

The same Latin word gave French vœu, Old French vout and Old Occitan vot, and the Engadine has vud ‘vow; vote’.^[7][9] In Tuscany the popular form boto meant a votive image, and in Florence and Siena a simpleton.^[9][10]

The political sense is recorded in Italian from the 16th century, but its spread is owed to the English noun and verb vote, which passed into French vote and voter in the early 18th century; the first French uses refer only to England.^[7][6][4] The phrase voto di fiducia is a calque of the English vote of confidence.^[6][7]

voveō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁uogʷʰ-éie- (“to promise”), a causative formation; the participle vōtus was contracted from Proto-Italic *wowitos.^[11][1] Nocentini places the verb in the religious vocabulary of Indo-European, beside Ancient Greek εὔχομαι (eúkhomai, “to pray, vow”).^[7][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante (before 1321), for a promise made to God;^[6][7][8] Nocentini and GRADIT date the word to the 13th century.^[6][7][8] In the Paradiso Dante speaks of l’alto valor del voto (“the high worth of the vow”), and Francesco da Buti's commentary defines it: Voto è promissione fatta a Dio dall’uomo (“a vow is a promise made by man to God”).^[5][13][6]

Semantic evolution

The religious senses came first: the object offered in fulfilment of a vow and the wish or good omen (both before 1535, Berni), and the object, animal or person dedicated to a god (1595, Tansillo).^[6] The three voti religiosi of chastity, poverty and obedience are named in 1813, and prendere i voti ‘to take vows, become a monk or nun’ appears in Zingarelli in 1922.^[6]

The sense of a declaration of will in an election or a deliberation is recorded before 1565 in Varchi, who also uses the word for the slips of paper on which the votes were written;^[6][14] voto deliberativo and voto consultivo followed in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[6][14] Within the history of the word DELI separates these older senses from the modern ones of representative assemblies.^[6]

The school sense, a mark expressed in numbers, is recent (1939–1940); Tommaseo still noted that one used to say con pieno plauso where people now said con dieci punti.^[6] English borrowed the word as voto, a votive offering, in 1691; it is now obsolete.^[15]

Timeline

• 13th century – First records according to Nocentini and GRADIT.^[7][8]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses voto for a promise made to God.^[6]
• Before 1406 – Francesco da Buti defines the vow as a promise made to God.^[6]
• Before 1535 – Berni uses voto for a votive object and for a wish.^[6]
• Before 1565 – Varchi uses it for a vote in an election and for the voting slip.^[6][16]
• 1595 – Tansillo uses it for something dedicated to a god.^[6]
• 1691 – English voto ‘votive offering’ is recorded.^[15]
• 1922 – Prendere i voti is recorded by Zingarelli.^[6]
• 1939–1940 – The school sense ‘mark’ is recorded in Palazzi's dictionary.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (religion) A vow, a solemn promise made to God, the Virgin or a saint, to perform an act of worship, charity or renunciation, often in thanks for a grace or to obtain one: Ha fatto voto di salire al santuario a piedi.^[8][3][17]
2. A votive offering, an object given in fulfilment of a vow; an ex-voto.^[8][3][18]
3. (figurative, usually plural) A wish, hope or prayer: Facciamo voti per il suo ritorno.^[8][3][17]
4. (international law, plural) The wishes a conference or international body expresses about the conduct of states, without legal effect.^[8][3][19]
5. A vote, the expression of one's will in an election or deliberation; each single vote cast for or won by a candidate, party or proposal: Alle ultime elezioni il partito ha perso molti voti.^[8][4][17]
6. By extension, voting, a votazione.^[8][4][17]
7. A ballot paper or other object used to vote.^[8][6]
8. A mark or grade given to a pupil or candidate for a test or an exam: Ha preso un bel voto in latino.^[4][18][1]

Word family

• votare
• votante
• votazione
• votaccio

Related words

• votivo
• devoto
• boto
• Latin voveō
• English vote

Usage notes

The noun has a closed /o/, which Tommaseo noted as distinguishing it from the adjective vôto with an open /ɔ/.^[13][1] That adjective, GRADIT's third voto, is a literary form of vuoto ‘empty’, also colloquial in Tuscany and Rome.^[8][1][20] GRADIT's second voto is an obsolete literary shortening of the past participle of votare, ‘offered in a vow’, as in Ariosto's nella moschea ne porrà l’arme vote (“he will hang up his arms in the mosque as an offering”).^[8][13][14] Set phrases include a pieni voti ‘with full marks’, mettere ai voti ‘to put to the vote’ and voto di fiducia ‘vote of confidence’.^[8][6]

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. 1064
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 475
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4092
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. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
17. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
18. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
19. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
20. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)