donna Italian · revision 37580

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=12th century, Corsican document|origins=la domus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdɔn.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''donna''' ''f'' (plural donne)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|domna]], [[roa-oit|donpna]], [[roa-oit|dopna]], [[roa-oit|dona]] and [[roa-oit|dunna]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|domna]], the syncopated form of [[la|domina|t=lady, mistress of the house]], the feminine of [[m|la|dominus|t=master]], from [[m|la|domus|t=house]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The short form is already found in Plautus and in inscriptions.^(GDLI|4, 947)^(OLD 2012) Devoto explains the Italian form by the regular loss of the unstressed inner vowel and the assimilation of ⟨mn⟩ to ⟨nn⟩.^(Devoto 1968|153) The word is pan-Romance: [[fr|dame]], [[pro|domna]], [[ca|dona]], [[es|dueña]] and [[m|es|doña]], [[pt|dona]], [[sc|domina]] and [[ro|doamnă]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Italian [[dama]] is a loan of the French form.^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The masculine noun probably meant simply “he of the house”.^(de Vaan 2008) Cassiodorus already uses the short form as a title of honour in 519, for Queen Amalasuntha.^(DEI|1381)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a Corsican document of the 12th century.^(TLIO) In the early 13th century Giacomino Pugliese uses ''donna'' for “lady, mistress”, the Latin sense.^(DELI 1999) The general sense “woman” is in Guittone d'Arezzo, who died in 1294.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''donna'' was first a word of rank: a lady of high standing, the Virgin Mary, a woman who rules over a place or over her lover, and even a city that dominates others.^(TLIO) The everyday word for a female person was [[femmina]].^(DELI 1999) Bonfante showed that only in Tuscany, around 1300, did ''donna'' begin to replace ''femmina'' in this sense, under the influence of the ''Dolce Stil Novo'', whose poets exalted the beloved lady; the change then spread beyond Tuscany, and ''femmina'' was pushed towards a purely sexual and later disparaging sense.^(DELI 1999) The South belongs to the area that kept the Latin word for “female”, like French [[m|fr|femme]].^(DEI|1381) Nocentini notes that, as in Catalan, the word lost its sense of excellence except in titles.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ As a title before the names of noblewomen and ladies of standing it is in Dante; it survives in the South and in the aristocracy.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1381) ''Donna'' for a domestic servant, short for ''donna di servizio'', is recorded before 1340.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1381) In card games it names the queen (1887), and in chess the queen as well.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ English borrowed ''donna'' as a title (1670) and German in 1728.^(DIFIT) Derivatives include ''donnesco'' (1353, Boccaccio), ''donnaccia'' (before 1584), ''donnaiolo'' (before 1735) and ''donnina allegra'' (1905).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 519 – Cassiodorus uses Latin ''domna'' as a title of honour.^(DEI|1381)

+ * 12th century – ''Donna'' appears in a Corsican document.^(TLIO)

+ * Early 13th century – Giacomino Pugliese uses it for “lady, mistress”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “woman”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it as a title for noblewomen.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1340 – ''Donna'' for a domestic servant is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses the adjective ''donnesco''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1670 – English borrows ''donna'' as a title.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1887 – The card ''donna'', the queen, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|woman]], an adult female human being: ''una donna anziana'', ''diventare donna'', to reach puberty.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Women in general: ''il ruolo della donna nella società''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Wife, partner, the woman one loves, usually with a possessive.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A domestic help, a cleaning woman.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' [[m|en|lady]], mistress; the woman who rules a man's heart.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A title before the first name of a noblewoman or lady of standing.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(card games, chess)'' The [[m|en|queen]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wikizionario)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[donnaccia]]

+ * [[donnaiolo]]

+ * [[donnesco]]

+ * [[donnina]]

+ * [[donnetta]]

+ * [[donnicciola]]

+ * [[donnone]]

+ * [[primadonna]]

+ * [[gentildonna]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[madonna]]

+ * [[dama]]

+ * [[don]]

+ * [[domenica]]

+ * [[la|domina]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Prima donna'' or ''primadonna'' is the leading actress or singer, and ''fare la prima donna'' means to want to be the centre of attention, also of men.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) The proverb ''donne e buoi dei paesi tuoi'' advises choosing a wife from one's own place.^(Treccani 2011) Tommaseo records a fish called ''pesce donna'', whose bones were believed to stop bleeding.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|1381)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}