tizio Italian · revision 37857

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1767, Alessandro Verri|origins=la Titus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtit.t͡sjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tizio''' ''m'' (plural tizi, feminine tizia)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|Titius]], the name of a Roman gens, formed from the first name [[m|la|Titus]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto 1968|445) The Italian jurist Irnerius used the name in made-up legal examples, together with [[m|la|Gaius|alt=Caius]] and [[m|la|Sempronius]], and Nocentini says that Late Latin already used the three for an unspecified person.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The GDLI cites Panzini for the triad in Druerio, a Bolognese jurist of the second half of the 11th century.^(GDLI|20, 1088) The second name was generic already in the Roman wedding formula, where the bride said that wherever her husband was Caius, she would be Caia.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo explained that because the law used these names to set out general cases, the first two became common names for a third and a fourth person, sometimes with contempt.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''Tizio e Sempronio'', for unspecified people, in Alessandro Verri (1767), with the full ''Tizio, Caio e Sempronio'' in 1867.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT gives 1755, in Passeroni's ''Cicerone'', and Zingarelli 1554, so the sources disagree on the date.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a common noun, a ''tizio'' was a person of no importance by 1879, when Tommaseo's dictionary recorded it.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Manzoni has ''fosse duca di Mantova, Tizio o Sempronio'' “whether the Duke of Mantua were Tizio or Sempronio”.^(GDLI|20, 1088) Today the lowercase word, with the feminine ''tizia'', is the everyday name for someone one cannot or will not name, often with a slightly dismissive tone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 11th century – Bolognese jurists use ''Titius'', ''Caius'' and ''Sempronius'' in legal examples.^(GDLI|20, 1088)^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1755 – GRADIT's first record, in Passeroni's ''Cicerone''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1767 – Alessandro Verri writes ''Tizio e Sempronio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1867 – ''Tizio, Caio e Sempronio'' appears in the newspaper L'Adige.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – Tommaseo's dictionary records ''tizio'' “a person of no account”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(singular, usually capitalised)'' ''Tizio, Caio e Sempronio'': [[m|en|anybody]], any people at all: ''Non raccontare i fatti tuoi a Tizio, Caio e Sempronio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A person one does not know or does not want to name, a [[m|en|guy]] (feminine ''tizia''): ''Al bar c'era un tizio che ti somigliava.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(derogatory)'' A person of no importance: ''Non mi faccio dare ordini da un tizio qualunque.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|Titius]]

+ * [[la|Titus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ GRADIT also lists two technical words spelled ''tizio'', both from Latin: an adjective “of the Tities”, one of the three ancient Roman tribes, and a noun for a priest of the college of the Titii.^(GRADIT 2003) With a capital, ''Tizio'' is also the giant Tityus of myth, as in Dante's ''Non ci fare ire a Tizio né a Tifo''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}