quanto Italian · revision 37503

+ {{homograph|1|how much}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1211, Libro di banchieri fiorentini|origins=la quam}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkwan.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quanto''' (feminine quanta, masculine plural quanti, feminine plural quante)^(Wiktionary)

+ In the singular it may be elided before a vowel: ''quant'è?''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ Old Lombard has an unstressed form ''quan''.^(DEI|3170)^(GDLI|15, 61)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|quantus|t=how great, how much]], with the adverb from its neuter [[m|la|quantum]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) The Latin word is formed from [[m|la|quam|t=how, as]], which belongs with [[m|la|quis|t=who]] (see [[chi]]), and is the correlative of [[m|la|tantus|t=so great]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012)^(GDLI|15, 61) Wiktionary gives as an alternative [[ine-pro|*kʷéh₂onts|t=how much, how many]].^(Wiktionary) [[xum|panta]] has the same formation.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The word is panromance: [[fr|quant]] (only in ⟨quant à⟩ “as for”), [[oc|cant]], [[ca|quant]], [[es|cuanto]], [[sc|cantu]] and [[ro|cât]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's earliest record is the comparative use, “as much as”, in a Florentine bankers' account book of 1211.^(DELI 1999) The relative “all those who” follows in Patecchio in the 12th or 13th century, and “all that” in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The interrogative adjective is in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century: “Quanti cavalieri sono quelli che fanno questa uccisione?” (How many knights are those doing this slaughter?).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|15, 61) The exclamative use is in Bono Giamboni before 1292, and the noun ''il quanto'' “quantity” in Dante, as in “nel quale e nel quanto” (in quality and in quantity, ''Paradiso'' 2).^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries it could also mean “likewise”.^(DEI|3170)

+

+ From it come ''quantità'', at the end of the 13th century, ''quantunque'' “although” before 1342, and ''quantomeno'', written as one word from 1948.^(DELI 1999) Many conjunctions and phrases are built on it: ''in quanto'', ''per quanto'', ''quanto a'' and ''quanto basta''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1211 – A Florentine bankers' book uses ''quanto'' in a comparison.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it for “all that”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it in exclamations.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it in a question.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''il quanto'' for “quantity”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – ''Quantunque'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1948 – Camillo Sbarbaro writes ''quantomeno'' as one word.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|how much]], how many, in questions: ''quanti biglietti ti servono?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In exclamations, what a lot of: ''quanta neve è caduta!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # As a relative, all the … that, as much as: ''mangia quanto pane vuoi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # How much, how many: ''quanto costa?'', ''in quanti siete venuti?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # What, all that: ''ha fatto quanto poteva''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # How much, to what extent, in questions and exclamations: ''quanto mi sei mancato!''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # As, as much as, in comparisons, often with ''tanto'': ''è alto quanto suo fratello''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''il quanto'': the amount, the [[m|en|quantity]].^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quantità]]

+ * [[quantitativo]]

+ * [[quantunque]]

+ * [[quantomeno]]

+ * [[quantificare]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|quantum}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1927|origins=la quantus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkwan.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quanto''' ''m'' (plural quanti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The physics term is [[bor|de|Quantum]], a word that the German physicist Max Planck introduced in 1900 in the form [[la-new|quantum]] for the amount of energy given off by an atomic particle.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The GDLI calls it a learned rendering of the scientific Latin word.^(GDLI|15, 66) That form is [[m|la|quantum]], the neuter of [[m|la|quantus]], used as a noun.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT and Nocentini date it to 1927;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) DELI's first record is the ''Enciclopedia italiana'' of 1929.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjectives ''quantistico'' and ''quantico'' are recorded from 1930 (Nocentini dates ''quantistico'' to 1924), and ''quantizzare'' from 1959.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Carlo Emilio Gadda wrote of admiring in Proust a sense of relativity that is like the method of modern ''fisica dei quanti''.^(GDLI|15, 66)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1927 – ''Quanto'' “quantum” is first recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1929 – The ''Enciclopedia italiana'' uses it.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1930 – ''Quantistico'' and ''quantico'' appear in the ''Enciclopedia italiana''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Quantizzare'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(physics)'' A [[m|en|quantum]], the smallest amount that a physical quantity can take, which changes only by multiples of it: ''teoria dei quanti''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(physics)'' The elementary particle associated with a field of force, such as the [[m|en|photon]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI|15, 66)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quantistico]]

+ * [[quantico]]

+ * [[quantizzare]]

+ * [[quantizzazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quale]]

+ * [[tanto]]

+ * [[quando]]

+ * [[la|quantus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In recipes ''quanto basta'', abbreviated ''q.b.'', means “as much as needed”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The phrase ''e quant'altro'' closes a list, like “and so on”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}