bello Italian · revision 37616

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1190, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras|origins=la bonus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbɛl.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bello''' (feminine ''bella'', masculine plural ''belli'', feminine plural ''belle''; superlative ''bellissimo'')^(Wiktionary)

+ Before a noun it changes like the article: ''bel'' and plural ''bei'' before most consonants, ''bello'' and plural ''begli'' before a vowel, ''s'' followed by a consonant, ''z'', ''gn'', ''ps'' and ''x'', and ''bell’'' before a vowel in the singular.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|bellus|t=pretty, charming]], a diminutive of [[m|la|bonus|t=good]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DELI and the LEI describe it as a word of familiar and affectionate speech, at first used by women and children, which spread until it displaced the classical [[m|la|pulcher|t=beautiful]] and [[m|la|fōrmōsus|t=shapely]].^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|5, 939) In Petronius' account of Trimalchio's dinner a single superlative of the classical adjective stands against six of the shapely-word and nine of the new one.^(LEI|5, 939) Sabatini–Coletti add that the decline of the homophone [[m|la|bellum|t=war]], replaced by a Germanic word, helped the change.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The new adjective prevailed in Gaul and Italy: [[fr|beau]], [[oc|bel]], [[ca|bell]] and [[dlm|byal]], while its rival survived in Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and old northern Italian.^(LEI|5, 939)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|480)^(REW 1935) [[es|bello]] and [[pt|belo]] were borrowed from Italian or Occitan.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin adjective goes back to [[la|*duenelos]], an old diminutive of ⟨duenos⟩, the old form of “good”.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto 1968|59) DELI notes that its link with [[bene|t=well]] was never forgotten and shows in several Romance uses.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Raimbaut de Vaqueiras' ''Contrasto'' (about 1190), in Genoese, and Nocentini also dates the word to 1190.^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI and GRADIT start from Francis of Assisi's ''Canticle of the Creatures'' (about 1224), which says of the sun “ello è bello e radiante cun grande splendore” (he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|2)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start the adjective covered pleasing sounds, smells and tastes, well-made things and well-made speech, and inner as well as outer beauty.^(TLIO) The sense “dear, good” lived on in Old Milanese and still exists in Sicilian and Abruzzese, and the sense “quite, completely” underlies ''bell’e fatto'' “already done”.^(DEI|480)^(REW 1935) The noun ''bellezza'' is in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250, while ''beltà'' was taken from [[pro|beltat]] and belongs to the poetic vocabulary of the earliest literature.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Several phrases follow French models: ''belle lettere'' “literature” (Tasso, before 1595) reflects ''belles lettres'', and ''belle arti'' reflects ''beaux arts'', although ''arti belle'' was formed independently by Vasari.^(DELI 1999) ''Bello spirito'' “witty person”, already used by Galileo (1632), took on a frivolous and ironic tone in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of ''bel esprit''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Plant names include ''belladonna'' (1549, Mattioli), traditionally explained as the herb women once used as a cosmetic.^(DELI 1999) The cheese name ''Belpaese'' comes from the title of Antonio Stoppani's book of 1875 on the natural beauties of Italy, which Dante had called “il bel paese là dove 'l sì suona”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1190 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras uses ''bello'' in his ''Contrasto''.^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1224 – Francis of Assisi calls the sun ''bello'' in the ''Canticle of the Creatures''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''bellezza''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1300 – ''Bella'' “beautiful woman” is used by Rustico di Filippo.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1549 – ''Belladonna'' is recorded in Mattioli's Dioscorides.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1595 – Torquato Tasso uses ''belle lettere''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1667 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses ''bello spirito''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – Antonio Stoppani publishes ''Il Bel Paese''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|beautiful]], [[m|en|handsome]], pleasing to look at or hear; meeting aesthetic or artistic standards: ''un bel giardino''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Pleasant, enjoyable, successful: ''una bella serata''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of the weather, fine, [[m|en|fair]]: ''Domani farà bello.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Morally good, noble; kind, courteous: ''Non è bello ridere di lui.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Good, favourable, advantageous; also ironic, meaning the opposite.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Considerable in amount or intensity: ''una bella fetta di torta''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # As an intensifier, before another adjective or a participle: ''bell’e pronto'', quite ready.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''il bello'', [[m|en|beauty]], especially as a concept of aesthetics; also the best or most interesting part of something.^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|2)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(informal)'' A handsome man, ''bello mio'' as an affectionate or ironic form of address.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bella]]

+ * [[bellezza]]

+ * [[bellamente]]

+ * [[bellino]]

+ * [[belloccio]]

+ * [[abbellire]]

+ * [[imbellire]]

+ * [[bellimbusto]]

+ * [[bellumore]]

+ * [[belluria]]

+ * [[belvedere]]

+ * [[belladonna]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[beltà]]

+ * [[bene]]

+ * [[buono]]

+ * [[la|bellus]]

+ * [[fr|beau]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate obsolete learned word ''bello'' “war”, from [[la|bellum]], was used in the 14th and 15th centuries.^(DEI|480)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The proverb ''non è bello ciò che è bello, ma è bello ciò che piace'' says that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}