resto Italian · revision 37828

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1332–1336, Lucchese merchant's account book|origins=la restō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈrɛs.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''resto''' ''m'' (plural resti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|it|restare|-o|t1=to remain]], a deverbal noun.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DEI|3234) The verb is a learned word, [[bor|la|restō|t=to stay behind; to be left over]], formed with [[m|la|re-|t=back; again]] and [[m|la|stō|t=to stand]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The other western Romance languages formed the noun in the same way from their verbs: [[fr|reste]], [[es|resto]], [[pt|resto]] and [[fur|rest]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|3234)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is a merchant's account book from Lucca of 1332–1336, for the change due to someone who has paid with a larger coin or note.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) The general sense “what is left of something, or still missing to complete it” appears in Giovanni Villani before 1348, who writes of sums “di resto” (still owing) at the end of a war.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 153)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A Florentine document of the same time also has a feminine form.^(DELI 1999) ''Del resto'' “besides, after all” is recorded in Magalotti (1666–1667), but purists of the 19th century such as Costa (1827) and Ugolini (1855) rejected it.^(DELI 1999) The plural ''resti'' “remains” was frowned upon too: Tommaseo called ''resti mortali'' a crude Gallicism, although Galileo had already written ''resti di scope''.^(DELI 1999) In proportional elections ''resti'' are the votes left over after seats are assigned.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ''Il resto del carlino'', the name of a Bologna newspaper, is popularly explained by the coin called ''carlino'', but DELI links it to an old expression meaning “a scolding”.^(DELI 1999) German ''Rest'' was taken from Italian and French in commerce (1404) and mathematics (1525).^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1332–1336 – A Lucchese account book uses ''resto'' for change.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “remainder”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1404 – German ''Rest'' is recorded in commerce.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1642 – Galileo uses the plural ''resti''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1666–1667 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses ''del resto''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1872 – Tommaseo records ''fare il resto'' and ''resti mortali''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|rest]], [[m|en|remainder]] of something: ''Il resto della serata l'abbiamo passato in giardino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # What remains to be done or said: ''Ti racconto il resto domani.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|change]], the money given back to someone who has paid more than the price: ''Il cassiere ha sbagliato il resto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The remainder of a division.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' [[m|en|leftovers]]: ''Stasera mangiamo i resti di ieri.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Ruins, remains of a building or city: ''i resti di una villa romana''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' ''resti mortali'': a person's mortal remains.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(politics, in the plural)'' Surplus votes counted again in a proportional system.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[restone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[restare]]

+ * [[restante]]

+ * [[arrestare]]

+ * [[la|resto]]

+ * [[fr|reste]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Del resto'' means “after all, besides” and ''per il resto'' “otherwise, as for the rest”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Old Italian had a separate ''resto'' in ''far resto'' “to stop, delay”, used by Chiaro Davanzati, and a ''resto'' “fibre; rope” in Venetian texts.^(GDLI|15, 904)^(GDLI|15, 906) DEI also records an old Tuscan adjective ''resto'' “left, remained”.^(DEI|3234)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}