zona

Forms

zona f (plural zone)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin zōna (“belt, girdle”), from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “belt, girdle”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Greek word comes from the root of ζώννυμι (zṓnnumi, “to gird”).^[3][6][7] It is a learned word.^[2][8]

From “belt” the Greek and Latin word passed to a belt of earth or sky, and geographers and astronomers used it for the five climatic belts of the earth: two cold, two temperate and one torrid.^[2][3] The word spread across the European languages, as French zone and Spanish zona.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records, in Iacopone da Todi before 1306 and in Dante, have the sense “band, belt”.^[2][4] Iacopone writes “Con vile zona ti lega d'amore” (he binds you with a lowly belt of love).^[9]

Semantic evolution

The geographical sense, each of the five belts between the polar circles and the tropics, is already in Dante in 1304–1308, and the torrida zona is in Passavanti.^[2][9] Before 1470 Pulci uses the word for a well-defined territory or region.^[2] Medicine used it for shingles, a painful eruption in the shape of half a belt, in 1828.^[9]

The general sense “delimited surface or space” is recorded only in 1877.^[2] Later uses include urban areas such as zona industriale and zona pedonale, the zona giorno and zona notte of a flat, the telegraph tape, and in team games the part of the pitch a player covers, recorded in 1955.^[2][4][10] The zona grigia, the grey area between legal and illegal, recalls the English grey area, used in 1963 for an economically intermediate territory.^[2][10]

Timeline

• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses zona for a band or belt.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for the climatic belts of the earth.^[2]
• Before 1470 – Pulci uses it for a region.^[2]
• 1828 – Zona is recorded for shingles.^[9]
• 1877 – The sense “delimited space” is recorded.^[2]
• 1939–1940 – Zonale is recorded.^[2]
• 1955 – The sporting sense is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A part of a surface or of space; a strip or band: Il tramonto lasciava sul mare zone rosse e zone scure.^[4][7][11]
2. An area or region with particular geographical, economic or administrative features: In quella zona si coltivano soprattutto ulivi.^{[4][7][11][1]}
3. A part of a town, a district; an urban area set aside for some use: Cercano casa in una zona tranquilla vicino al parco.^[4][11][12]
4. (geography) Each of the five belts into which the tropics and the polar circles divide the earth's surface.^[2][10][13]
5. (sport) In football, basketball and other team games, a part of the pitch, and the system of marking an area instead of a player: La squadra difende a zona.^[4][11]
6. The paper tape on which a telegraph or teleprinter prints its messages.^[4][11][12]
7. (historical) In ancient Greece, the belt that held a woman's dress at the waist, (literary) a belt.^[11][12]

Word family

• zonale
• zonatura
• zonizzare
• zonizzazione
• zonula

Related words

• Latin zōna
• French zone

Usage notes

Dar di zona, in Tuscan colloquial use, meant to do something with vigour and gusto; it is a separate, probably imitative word.^[13][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 1091
9. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1075
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 1092