guerra Italian · revision 37825

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1294, Brunetto Latini|origins=frk *werru}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡwɛr.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''guerra''' ''f'' (plural guerre, diminutive guerricciòla or (literary) guerricciuòla)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''guera'', ''gerra'', ''vera'' and ''verra''.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a Germanic loanword, [[bor|frk|*werru|t=confusion, quarrel]], recorded as [[la-med|werra]] from 858 and as [[m|la-med|guerra]].^(DEI)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968)^(Zaccaria 1901) DELI and Nocentini give the source as [[gmw-pro|*werra|t=mêlée, quarrel]] and compare [[goh|firwërran|t=to entangle]] and [[de|verwirren|t=to confuse]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) When the word entered Latin is uncertain: DEI says that [[la|bellum]] was already partly replaced by the Germanic word in the late Empire, so that it cannot be told whether it is an early loan into Latin or a later one from Frankish.^(DEI) Arrigo Castellani, quoted by DELI, sees no reason not to date it to the spoken Latin of the 4th century or earlier.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The same word is [[fr|guerre]], [[oc|guerra]], [[ca|guerra]], [[es|guerra]] and [[pt|guerra]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI) REW and DEI say it reached the Iberian languages and Occitan through French.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI) Related words include [[de|Wirre|t=turmoil]] and [[m|de|Wirrwarr|t=chaos]].^(DEI|1890)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ Why the Latin word disappeared from all of Romance is debated: Bruno Migliorini, quoted by DELI and Sabatini–Coletti, saw in the change the disorderly Germanic way of fighting winning over the ordered Roman one.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The GDLI points out that the Latin noun had become a homophone of [[m|la|bellus|t=pretty]], and takes the Germanic word as a euphemism.^(GDLI) The Latin word survives only in learned words such as [[bellico]] and [[belligerante]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(LEI|5, 939)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum''.^(TLIO) DELI dates the word to before 1294, in Brunetto Latini and Folcacchiero de' Folcacchieri, and GRADIT to 1274.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Latini writes of the Guelphs of Florence: “per mala provedenza / e per forza di guerra / eran fuor dela terra” (through poor foresight and by force of war they were out of the city).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “discord between people” is in Dante (1313–1319), and the poets of the ''dolce stil novo'' and Petrarch's followers used the word for the torment of love.^(DELI 1999) Dante also used it for toil and trial: “io sol uno / m'apparecchiava a sostener la guerra” (I alone was making ready to bear the struggle).^(GRADIT 2003) Old Italian ''guerriero'' came from Old French ''guerrier'' and ''guerreggiare'' from French ''guerroyer''.^(Nocentini 2010) ''Guerriglia'' (1573) is Spanish ''guerrilla'' “little war”, which became known again in Italy in the Napoleonic period and in the 1970s.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many modern phrases are translations: ''Guerra mondiale'' rendered German ''Weltkrieg'' in the Italian press of 1914, and ''guerra lampo'' German ''Blitzkrieg''.^(DELI 1999) ''Guerra fredda'' renders English ''cold war'', which Walter Lippmann made current in 1947, and in 1950 Giacomo Devoto already counted it as part of the common language.^(DELI 1999) ''Guerrafondaio'' “warmonger” was coined by the journalist Gandolin during the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1896.^(DELI 1999) The word is also used for any fierce contest, as ''guerra dei prezzi'' “price war”, and for a campaign against something, as ''guerra alla droga''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 858 – Medieval Latin ''werra'' is first recorded.^(Wiktionary)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''guerra''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for discord between people.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1573 – ''Guerriglia'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1896 – ''Guerrafondaio'' is coined during the war in Ethiopia.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1914 – ''Guerra mondiale'' translates German ''Weltkrieg''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – Devoto counts ''guerra fredda'' as part of the common language.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|war]], armed conflict between states, peoples or organised groups: ''Il paese entrò in guerra nella primavera del 1915.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A conflict carried on by means other than arms: ''guerra commerciale'', ''guerra dei prezzi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Hostility, a bitter [[m|en|feud]] between people or groups: ''Tra le due famiglie è guerra aperta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A determined fight against an evil: ''la guerra alla povertà''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' The struggle of opposing forces, especially the elements.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Toil, hardship, [[m|en|trial]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[guerriero]]

+ * [[guerreggiare]]

+ * [[guerresco]]

+ * [[guerriglia]]

+ * [[guerrigliero]]

+ * [[guerrafondaio]]

+ * [[agguerrire]]

+ * [[agguerrito]]

+ * [[anteguerra]]

+ * [[postguerra]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bellico]]

+ * [[belligerante]]

+ * [[fr|guerre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}