quasi Italian · revision 37650

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, Lauda escorialense}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkwa.zi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quasi''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|guasi]], [[m|roa-oit|quaxi]] and [[m|roa-oit|quazi]].^(GDLI|15, 93)

+ Old northern Italian had forms with a prefixed /s/, such as Old Venetian and Paduan [[m|roa-oit|squasio]], and ''squasi'' is still northern.^(DEI|3174)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|quasi|t=as if; about, nearly]], which Nocentini classes as a learned borrowing.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Wiktionary takes it as inherited: the final /i/ looks learned, but Italian often has /i/ for final /e/ in invariable words, as in [[avanti]] and [[tardi]].^(Wiktionary) The word is formed [[af|la|quam|sī|t1=as, how|t2=if]], losing the /m/ without lengthening the vowel, as suits a small grammatical word.^(DELI 1999)^(OLD 2012)^(Devoto 1968|356)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Nocentini sets [[fr|quasi]] and [[es|casi]] beside it, and DEI holds that the French word was taken from Italian in the 14th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3174)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the 13th-century ''Lauda escorialense'', with the sense “about, nearly”.^(DELI 1999) GDLI quotes the line of the Virgin's lament: “Te portai in lo meu corpo / et or te vego quasi mortu” (I carried you in my body, and now I see you almost dead).^(GDLI|15, 93)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The conjunction “as if” is in Dante, before 1321, who also has ''quasi che''.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3174) Leon Battista Alberti, in the 15th century, uses it for “hardly”.^(DEI|3174) In the middle of the 18th century legal language began to prefix it to nouns, as in ''quasi-contratto'' and ''quasi-delitto'' (1749), following Latin usage such as ''quasi pater''.^(DEI|3174) In the 20th century scientific Italian, after English, extended this to abstract nouns.^(DEI|3174) The doubled ''quasi quasi'' expresses being tempted to do something.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – The ''Lauda escorialense'' uses ''quasi'' “almost”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it as a conjunction “as if”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – French borrows ''quasi'', according to DEI.^(DEI|3174)

+ * 1749 – The legal terms ''quasi-contratto'' and ''quasi-delitto'' are recorded.^(DEI|3174)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|almost]], [[m|en|nearly]]: ''Il treno era quasi vuoto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''quasi mai'': hardly ever: ''Da queste parti non nevica quasi mai.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Softening a statement; doubled, ''quasi quasi'' expresses being tempted to do something: ''Quasi quasi mi prendo un gelato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # With a verb, of something that nearly happened: ''Quasi perdevo l'aereo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Before a noun, with or without a hyphen, “near-”: ''un quasi incidente''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|as if]], with the subjunctive: ''Mi guardava, quasi volesse dirmi qualcosa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quasiché]]

+ * [[quasimente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|quasi]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The /s/ is voiced: /ˈkwa.zi/.^(Wiktionary)^(Prati 1951|815) ''Quasi'' as the first part of compounds (''quasi-moneta'', ''quasi-reato'') is common in legal, economic and scientific language.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3174)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}