mese Italian · revision 37712

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1193, document from the Marche|origins=ine-pro *mḗh₁n̥s}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈme.ze/, /ˈme.se/, /ˈmese/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mese''' ''m'' (plural mesi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|mēnsis|t=month]], from the accusative ⟨mensem⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is found in all the Romance languages: [[fr|mois]], [[oc|mes]], [[ca|mes]], [[es|mes]], [[pt|mês]], [[sc|mese]], [[fur|mes]], [[rm|mais]], [[dlm|mais]] and [[rup|mes]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DEI and Meyer-Lübke write the etymon with its nasal in brackets, ⟨me(n)sis⟩, and none of the Romance forms keeps the /n/.^(DEI|2434)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin noun continues [[itc-pro|*mēns]], an old Indo-European word that meant both “month” and “moon”; in Latin, as in some other languages, it kept only the first meaning.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan reconstructs [[ine-pro|*mḗh₁n̥s]] as an s-stem, probably from the root [[m|ine-pro|*meh₁-|t=to measure]], since the moon was the natural measure of time; the same root is in [[metro]] and [[misura]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Related words are [[grc|μήν|tr=mḗn]], [[sa|मास्|tr=mā́s]], [[lt|mėnuo]], [[ru|месяц|tr=mésjac]], [[de|Mond|t=moon]] and [[m|de|Monat|t=month]], and English [[m|en|moon]] and [[m|en|month]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest record is a document from the Marche (''Carta picena'') of 1193, with the sense “period of about thirty days”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The sense “one of the twelve parts of the year” is first recorded in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The months of pregnancy are counted in Iacopone da Todi, who uses the plural ''misi'' before 1306; the singular ''mese'' in this use is in a vernacular Bible of the same period.^(DELI 1999) The sense “monthly pay, monthly rent” is first recorded in Giovanni Della Casa (before 1556), though DEI finds it in the 15th century.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2434) The plural ''i mesi'' for menstruation appears in Lodovico Domenichi in 1561.^(DEI|2434)^(Prati 1951|656)

+

+ The derivative ''mesata'' “monthly wage” is first written ''mexata'' by Marin Sanudo in 1500; the Crusca recorded it in the older sense “a whole month”.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo's dictionary of 1861 quotes the Tuscan proverb ''Tutti i mesi non son di trentuno'', “not every month has thirty-one days”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|3, 218) ''Mese mariano'' is May, the month dedicated to the Virgin.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1193 – A document from the Marche has ''mese'' “period of about thirty days”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the word for a month of the calendar.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi counts the months of pregnancy.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1500 – Marin Sanudo uses ''mexata'' “month's pay”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1556 – Giovanni Della Casa uses ''mese'' for monthly pay.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – Lodovico Domenichi uses ''i mesi'' for menstruation.^(DEI|2434)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|month]], one of the twelve parts of the calendar year, of 28 to 31 days: ''Ci vediamo all'inizio del mese.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A period of about thirty days: ''Sono rimasto in ospedale un mese.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A month's pay, or a month's rent: ''pagare il mese all'inquilino''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A month of [[m|en|pregnancy]]: ''essere al settimo mese''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(popular, in the plural)'' [[m|en|menstruation]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mesata]]

+ * [[mesetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mensile]]

+ * [[semestre]]

+ * [[trimestre]]

+ * [[la|mensis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The /s/ of ''mese'' is pronounced voiced or voiceless depending on the region;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary gives both /ˈme.ze/ and /ˈme.se/.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT lists an unrelated technical ''mese'' (feminine), the middle string of the ancient Greek musical system, from Greek ''mésē'' “middle (string)”, first recorded before 1597.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}