tesoro Italian · revision 37694

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1294, Brunetto Latini|origins=grc θησαυρός}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /teˈzɔ.ro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tesoro''' ''m'' (plural tesori)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|thēsaurus|t=treasure; storehouse]],^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) [[bor|grc|θησαυρός|tr=thēsaurós|t=store, storehouse; treasure]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012) DEI calls it a semi-learned word.^(DEI|3771) In it the Latin diphthong /au/ became /o/, while the latinizing [[tesauro]] keeps it.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The Latin word also gave [[fr|trésor]], [[oc|tezaur]], [[ca|tresor]], [[es|tesoro]] and [[pt|tesouro]],^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) and was borrowed as [[goh|treso]].^(REW 1935) The /r/ after the first consonant of the French and Catalan forms (also in Old Venetian and Old Spanish ⟨tresoro⟩) anticipates the later /r/, according to Niedermann, quoted by Meyer-Lübke, while Körting thinks of popular etymology.^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Latin also wrote ⟨thensaurus⟩.^(OLD 2012)

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+ The origin of the Greek word is obscure, perhaps a loan from another language, according to DELI.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini derives it from the root of [[grc|τίθημι|tr=títhēmi|t=to put, place]], and DEI calls it a relic of the pre-Greek substrate.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3771)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294, for a large quantity of money.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The sense “precious things hidden or buried, whose owner cannot be proved” is in Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308), and in Giordano da Pisa in 1305 beside ''tesauro''.^(DELI 1999) GDLI quotes Dante: “lo tesoro è nascosto” (the treasure is hidden).^(GDLI)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figurative senses came early: Dante already uses the word for a dearly loved person or thing (1293–1294), for spiritual riches (before 1321) and for an encyclopaedic work (1300–1313), the genre of Brunetto Latini's ''Tresor'' and ''Tesoretto''.^(DELI 1999) Petrarch calls a person his treasure.^(DEI|3771)^(Prati 1951|989) The public treasury is ''tesoro'' from about 1350; in 1831 the purist Lissoni rejected that sense as a Gallicism, and Viani defended it with many examples.^(DELI 1999) Natural riches are ''tesori'' in Tasso (1581), and works of art in Tommaseo–Bellini (1879).^(DELI 1999)

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+ ''Tesoriere'' (end of the 13th century, ''Novellino'') and ''tesoreria'' depend on French ''trésorier'' (1170) and ''trésorerie'', from the Late Latin ''thesaurarius'' “keeper of the treasure” used by Isidore.^(DELI 1999) In modern Italy the word names the state's funds and, capitalized, the ministry that managed them, as in ''buono del Tesoro'' “Treasury bond”; the game ''caccia al tesoro'' is a treasure hunt.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante uses ''tesoro'' for a much loved person or thing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''tesoro'' for a great quantity of money.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * End of the 13th century – ''Tesoriere'' appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses the word for an encyclopaedic work.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''tesoro'' for hidden valuables.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1350 – ''Tesoro'' “public treasury” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1581 – Tasso uses the word for natural riches.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1831 – Lissoni rejects ''tesoro'' “treasury” as a Gallicism.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini record ''tesoro'' for a precious work of art.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|treasure]], a large store of money, jewels and precious objects, kept with care or hidden: ''I ragazzi cercavano un tesoro sepolto nel giardino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A great deal of money: ''Quella macchina gli è costata un tesoro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' A valuable movable object, hidden or buried, whose owner cannot be proved.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The relics, sacred furnishings and works of art belonging to a church or shrine, and the room where they are kept.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' The public [[m|en|treasury]]; the ministry in charge of it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Something of great value: natural resources, a work of art, a spiritual gift.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A much loved person, or a very kind and helpful one, ''(colloquial)'' as a term of endearment, [[m|en|darling]]: ''Tesoro, hai visto le mie chiavi?''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaeology)'' In ancient Greece, a treasury building of a sanctuary; in the Mycenaean age, a domed tomb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tesoriere]]

+ * [[tesoreria]]

+ * [[tesoretto]]

+ * [[tesoreggiare]]

+ * [[tesaurizzare]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tesauro]]

+ * [[la|thesaurus]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fare tesoro di qualcosa'' means to value something and keep it for later use, especially advice or experience.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''Tesauro'' is the old and literary form.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}