mezzo Italian · revision 37850

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1158, Testimonianze di Travale|origins=ine-pro *médʰyos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɛd.d͡zo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mezzo''' (feminine ''mezza'', masculine plural ''mezzi'', feminine plural ''mezze''); noun ''mezzo'' m (plural ''mezzi''); also an adverb^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ The oldest forms are ''mezo'' (1158) and the Veronese ''meço''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|medius|t=middle]], the adjective, and its neuter [[m|la|medium|t=the middle, the space between]], used as a noun.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The word came down through popular speech, while [[medio]] is the learned doublet of the same Latin word.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fro|mi]], [[oc|mieg]], [[ca|mig]], [[es|medio]], [[pt|meio]] and [[ro|miez]], which means “kernel, pith” in Romanian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin adjective goes back to [[itc-pro|*meðios]], from [[ine-pro|*médʰyos|t=middle]]; it is related to [[sa|मध्य|tr=mádhya]], [[grc|μέσος|tr=mésos]], [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃|tr=midjis]] and English [[m|en|mid]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''mezo'' in the Tuscan ''Testimonianze di Travale'' of 1158, in a sentry's rhyme quoted there: “Guaita, guaita male: non mangiai ma mezo pane” (watch, watch badly: I ate but half a loaf).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) The form ''mezzo'' is in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun “half” is in Bono Giamboni before 1292, and Dante uses the word for the middle, the centre, and for “intermediate”.^(DELI 1999) The sense “means, way of reaching an end” is in Ugo Panziera before 1330;^(DELI 1999) Galileo, before 1642, used ''mezzo'' for the medium in which a physical event takes place.^(DELI 1999) Before 1829 Melchiorre Gioia used ''mezzi di comunicazione'' for vehicles, and by 1950 ''mezzo'' alone could mean any means of transport.^(DELI 1999) Purists judged ''a mezzo di'' a calque of French ''au moyen de'' beside older ''per mezzo di'', and ''mezzi'' “money” a Gallicism too.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many compounds were made with it: ''mezzadro'' “sharecropper” (1516–1520), ''mezzanotte'', ''mezzogiorno'', ''mezzaluna'' and the football term ''mezzala'' (1921).^(DELI 1999) In music ''mezzo'', between forte and piano, was taken into German by 1732, and English used it in compounds such as ''mezzotype'' (1894).^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1158 – ''Mezo'' is recorded in the ''Testimonianze di Travale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the noun for “half”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for the middle.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1330 – Ugo Panziera uses it for “means”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1642 – Galileo uses it for a physical medium.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1732 – German ''mezzo'' is recorded in music.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1950 – ''Mezzo'' alone for a vehicle is noted.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|half]], being half of a whole: ''mezzo litro di latte''; also, with the noun left out, ''le tre e mezza''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Incomplete; with a vague or weakening sense, ''un mezzo disastro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # In the middle, halfway between two extremes: ''a mezza strada''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A half.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # The [[m|en|middle]], centre of a space or a period of time: ''nel bel mezzo della lezione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|means]], method or tool for an end: ''Il fine giustifica i mezzi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(physics)'' A [[m|en|medium]], the substance in which something happens.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A vehicle, ''mezzi pubblici'', public transport.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(plural)'' Money, resources; natural gifts: ''un'atleta con molti mezzi''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Half, partly: ''Ho trovato la porta mezzo aperta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mezzadro]]

+ * [[mezzadria]]

+ * [[mezzanotte]]

+ * [[mezzogiorno]]

+ * [[mezzaluna]]

+ * [[mezzala]]

+ * [[mezzano]]

+ * [[mezzanino]]

+ * [[mezzobusto]]

+ * [[dimezzare]]

+ * [[frammezzo]]

+ * [[ammezzare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[medio]]

+ * [[la|medius]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second ''mezzo'', pronounced with a close /e/ and voiceless /tts/, means “overripe” of fruit and, figuratively, “corrupt”; it is Tuscan, Umbrian and Roman, recorded about 1340.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2448)^(Wiktionary) It continues a rustic [[la-vul|*mētius]], a variant of [[la|mītius|t=softer]], the comparative of [[m|la|mītis|t=mild, ripe]], and DELI numbers it as the first homograph.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Phrases with ''mezzo'' “half, middle” include ''andarci di mezzo'' “to suffer the consequences”, ''togliere di mezzo'' “to get rid of”, and ''per mezzo di'' “by means of”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}