strada Italian · revision 37655

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1211, Tuscan inventory|origins=la sternō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈstra.da/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''strada''' ''f'' (plural strade)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|strata]], [[m|roa-oit|straa]] and [[m|roa-oit|strà]].^(GDLI|20, 259)

+ The literary form ''istrada'' survives only after ''per'' and ''in''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|strāta|t=paved road]], short for [[la|via strāta|t=paved way]], in which [[m|la|strātus|t=spread, paved]] is the past participle of [[m|la|sternō|t=to spread out, pave]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The /d/ for Latin /t/ is the voicing of northern Italy, so the word reached Tuscan from the north.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968|428)^(REW 1935) From the start it named a built road, as against the general word [[m|la|via]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ The same word is [[fro|estrée]], [[oc|estrada]], [[ca|estrada]], [[es|estrada]] and [[pt|estrada]], and it is found across the Romance languages except Romanian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) It was borrowed early into Germanic, giving [[goh|strāza|alt=strazza]] (modern [[de|Straße]]) and [[ang|strǣt]], the source of [[m|en|street]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is an inventory of 1211 published in Castellani's collection of early Tuscan texts, with the sense “a stretch of levelled or paved ground connecting places”.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) Dante uses the word in the ''Commedia'' (“Così l'avria ripinte per la strada / onde eran tratte”, so it would have driven them back along the road by which they were drawn, in the ''Paradiso'').^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Within towns ''strada'' came to stand beside ''via'' for a street, and ''strada maestra'' named the main road between two places.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010) The figurative sense “means, way of achieving something” is recorded before 1735 in Niccolò Forteguerri.^(DELI 1999) ''Strada ferrata'' “railway”, preceded in 1830 by ''strada di ferro'' and later replaced by ''ferrovia'', follows French ''route ferrée'' (1826).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Derivatives include ''stradino'' “road-mender” (1551), ''stradone'' (16th century), ''stradale'' (1838, ''la Stradale'', the traffic police, from 1956), ''autostrada'' (1924) and ''superstrada'' (1928).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) French ''estrade'' “road”, in ''battre l'estrade'' “to scout”, was taken from Italian before 1439.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1211 – ''Strada'' appears in a Tuscan inventory.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1439 – French ''estrade'' “road” is borrowed from Italian.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1551 – ''Stradino'' “road-mender” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1735 – Forteguerri uses ''strada'' for a means to an end.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1830 – ''Strada di ferro'' “railway” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1924 – ''Autostrada'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|road]], a stretch of levelled, paved or asphalted ground for people and vehicles: ''La strada per il paese è piena di curve.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|street]] in a town; also the street as a place of life without home or care, as in ''ragazzo di strada'' and ''finire in mezzo a una strada''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The [[m|en|route]] to a place, and the distance still to cover: ''Abbiamo ancora due ore di strada.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A passage opened through something, as in ''farsi strada'', to make one's way.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The course of one's life, conduct; a career: ''Ha trovato la sua strada nella musica.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A means or method of achieving something: ''Se questo non funziona, proveremo un'altra strada.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[autostrada]]

+ * [[stradale]]

+ * [[stradario]]

+ * [[stradino]]

+ * [[stradista]]

+ * [[stradone]]

+ * [[superstrada]]

+ * [[instradare]]

+ * [[stradina]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[strato]]

+ * [[via]]

+ * [[la|sternō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Among many set phrases are ''codice della strada'' “highway code”, ''a mezza strada'' “halfway”, ''fare strada'' “to lead the way; to get on in life” and ''strada facendo'' “on the way”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}