più Italian · revision 37475

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Tuscan minstrel's song|origins=ine-pro *pleh₁-ios-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpju/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''più''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ The oldest form is ''plù''.^(DELI 1999) Old and popular Tuscan has ''piue'' and ''piune'', with an added vowel that avoids a final stress, and ''plui'' is found in the 13th century.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Prati 1951|785)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|plūs|t=more]], the comparative of [[m|la|multus|t=much]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The /l/ after /p/ became /j/, as regularly in Italian.^(Wiktionary) Latin already used the word with an adjective in place of a comparative (Ennius has “plus miser”, more wretched), and this use survives in Italian, Dalmatian, Sardinian, Ladin, French and part of Occitan, while the other Romance languages chose [[la|magis]].^(DEI|2959)^(REW 1935) The word is [[fr|plus]], [[ca|pus]], [[sc|pius]], [[fur|plui]] and [[dlm|ple]], but Romanian has not kept it.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2959)

+

+ Latin “plūs”, older [[m|la|plous]], belongs to the family of [[m|la|plēnus|t=full]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives it from the comparative [[ine-pro|*pleh₁-ios-]] of [[m|ine-pro|*pl̥h₁-u-|t=much, many]], with cognates in [[grc|πλέων|tr=pléōn|t=more]], [[sga|lia|t=more]] and [[non|fleiri|t=more]]; how the Latin vowel arose is disputed.^(de Vaan 2008) The positive is [[grc|πολύς|tr=polús|t=much]], [[sa|पुरु|tr=purú]] and [[goh|filu]] (whence [[m|de|viel]]).^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is a Tuscan minstrel's song of the late 12th century, in the form ''plù'';^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) ''più'' follows in a Florentine bankers' book of 1211.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Both mean “more, to a greater degree”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In negative sentences ''più'' came to mean “no longer, any more” (''non piove più''), recorded before 1306 in Jacopone da Todi.^(DELI 1999) As an adjective it meant “more” (late 13th century, ''Novellino'') and, in Dante, “several”.^(DELI 1999) ''I più'' “the majority” is in Boccaccio (1353), and Piero della Francesca uses ''più'' for the sign of addition before 1492.^(DELI 1999) Petrarch plays on the word in ''e vorrei più volere, e più non voglio'' (“and I would like to want more, and want no more”).^(GDLI|13)

+

+ The arithmetical sense “plus” is recorded in 1871, and in school marks ''più'' after a number means “a little higher” (1958).^(DELI 1999) In music ''più'' “more” before an adjective (''più forte'', ''più lento'') passed into French (1703), English (1724) and German (1732).^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – First record, as ''plù'', in a Tuscan minstrel's song.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1211 – ''Più'' in a Florentine bankers' book.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – ''Piùe'' in Ristoro d'Arezzo.^(DEI|2959)

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses ''più'' “no longer” in negative sentences.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – ''I più'' “the majority” in Boccaccio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1492 – Piero della Francesca uses ''più'' for the plus sign.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1724 – The musical term is first recorded in English.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1871 – The sense “plus” in arithmetic is recorded by Tommaseo and Bellini.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|more]]: to a greater degree; with adjectives and adverbs it forms the comparative: ''questa strada è più lunga dell'altra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # With the definite article, it forms the superlative: [[m|en|most]]: ''è il più alto della famiglia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # In negative sentences: no longer, any more: ''non lo vedo più''.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|plus]]: in addition: ''cinque più tre fa otto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # After a school mark, a little higher than it: ''un sei più''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # Of temperatures, above zero: ''il termometro segna più quattro''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable)'' More: ''ci vuole più tempo''.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Several, more than one: ''gliel'ho chiesto più volte''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The most, the greater part: ''il più è fatto'', ''i più'' “the majority”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The plus sign.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[piuttosto]]

+ * [[perlopiù]]

+ * [[dappiù]]

+ * [[sovrappiù]]

+ * [[soprappiù]]

+ * [[tuttalpiù]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plurale]]

+ * [[meno]]

+ * [[molto]]

+ * [[la|plus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''più o meno'' “more or less”, ''di più'' “more”, ''per di più'' “moreover”, ''a più non posso'' “with all one's might” and ''al più presto'' “as soon as possible”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Zingarelli 2010) Comparison with ''più'' takes ''di'' between two subjects and ''che'' between two qualities of the same subject: ''più stanco che malato''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}