tipo Italian · revision 37600

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=16th century, Torquato Tasso|origins=grc τύπτω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈti.po/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tipo''' ''m'' (plural ''tipi''; feminine ''tipa'' for a person)^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|typus|t=figure, image; type]],^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) [[bor|grc|τύπος|tr=túpos|t=blow; impression, mark]], from [[m|grc|τύπτω|tr=túptō|t=to strike]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary traces the verb to [[ine-pro|*(s)tewp-]].^(Wiktionary) The Greek noun had already taken on most of the transferred senses, “figure, form, image”, “mould, model” and “character, kind”.^(Nocentini 2010) In Latin it named a figure in relief, a model or manner, and the course of a disease, and the Church spread the word, under the influence of Greek philosophy.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3797)

+

+ Some modern senses come from [[fr|type]]: “person, fellow”, which Spitzer studied in 1929, and the use after a noun as an adjective, frequent in French from the 1920s.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The derivatives [[tipizzare]] and [[tipizzazione]] copy French, while [[tipologia]] copies [[en|typology]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DEI dates the word to the 16th century, in Torquato Tasso, with the sense “figure, symbol”.^(DEI|3797) In Tasso's ''Rime'' Jonah, three days in the whale, is a “vivo tipo di Cristo” (a living figure of Christ).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DELI's first record is later: 1704, in Lorenzo Bellini, for “kind, species”, the date GRADIT also gives.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Giovan Battista Fagiuoli, before 1742, uses it for a model or sample, also ironically, and in 1745 it named the ideal form to which single things with their variations can be referred.^(DELI 1999) It meant a face or physical character from 1891, and an odd, eccentric person from 1905 in Panzini, though DEI has this sense in 1879;^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3797) Panzini also mocked the ''tipo da spiaggia'' with his showy elegance.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3797) In the plural it named printing types in 1879, and in biology a phylum by 1939–1940.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In the 20th century it spread as an invariable adjective after a noun, “typical, standard” (''famiglia tipo''), in shop language for a product's kind or price range, and colloquially as an adverb meaning “like, for example”.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 16th century – Tasso uses ''tipo'' for “figure, symbol”.^(DEI|3797)

+ * 1704 – Lorenzo Bellini uses it for “kind, species”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1742 – Fagiuoli uses it for “model, sample”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1829 – ''Tipico'' appears, in medicine.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the plural ''tipi'' for printing types.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1905 – Panzini records it for an odd person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1939–1940 – The biological sense “phylum” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – ''Tipologia'' and ''tipizzare'' appear.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1965 – The invariable adjective “standard” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|type]], [[m|en|kind]], sort: ''Che tipo di musica ascolti?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A model or prototype from which a series is made: ''il primo tipo di aereo a reazione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # In ''del tipo di'', ''sul tipo di'' or simply ''tipo'' before a noun, like, resembling: ''un pavimento tipo marmo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A person who represents a physical type or a character: ''il tipo del secchione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A [[m|en|guy]], someone (feminine ''tipa''): ''C’è un tipo alla porta che chiede di te.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An odd or original person: ''che tipo!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # One's type: ''non è il mio tipo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(biology)'' A [[m|en|phylum]]; also the type specimen of a taxon.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The design struck on a coin.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # In the plural, printing [[m|en|typeface|alt=types]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable, after the noun)'' Typical, standard: ''la giornata tipo di un pendolare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Like, for example: ''ci sentiamo tipo verso sera''.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tipico]]

+ * [[tipicità]]

+ * [[tipizzare]]

+ * [[tipizzazione]]

+ * [[tipologia]]

+ * [[tipologico]]

+ * [[tipaccio]]

+ * [[tipetto]]

+ * [[tipino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tipografia]]

+ * [[timpano]]

+ * [[la|typus]]

+ * [[fr|type]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Used as an adjective after a noun, ''tipo'' does not change in the plural: ''famiglie tipo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}