città Italian · revision 37909

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio (as civitate)|origins=la cīvis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡ʃitˈta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''città''' ''f'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and literary forms include [[roa-oit|cittade]] and [[roa-oit|cittate]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ The GDLI also records the old literary [[roa-oit|civita]] and [[roa-oit|civitate]].^(GDLI|3, 200)

+ Northern dialects have forms such as [[pms|sità]] in Piedmont and [[egl|zità]] at Parma.^(LEI|14, 929)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cīvitās|t=citizenship; the citizens; city]] (in Italian from its accusative case), a derivative of [[m|la|cīvis|t=citizen]] with the suffix [[m|la|-tās]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) DELI traces the Latin noun for “citizen” to an Indo-European root meaning “to settle”.^(DELI 1999) The modern form comes from [[roa-oit|cittade]] by the loss of the final syllable, and the derivatives such as [[cittadino]] were formed on that longer form.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The word is shared by the Romance languages: [[fr|cité]], [[oc|ciutat]], [[ca|ciutat]], [[es|ciudad]], [[pt|cidade]] and [[ro|cetate|t=fortress]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI) In Latin it first meant the condition of being a citizen, then the body of citizens and the seat of a government, and in the end it displaced [[m|la|urbs|t=city]] as the ordinary word for a town.^(DEI|968)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the form ''civitate'' in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio at the end of the 12th century, and the form ''città'' about 1225, in Garzo.^(DELI 1999) The GDLI quotes the Ritmo: “Era questa una civitate de Syria” (This was a city of Syria).^(GDLI|3, 200) The TLIO's earliest text is the Cremonese Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, from the early 13th century, where the word means a large, walled town ruled by a central power.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old Italian the word also meant the body of citizens, the community and its laws, one's homeland, and in religious language Paradise, the city of the blessed.^(TLIO)^(DEI) Tommaseo observed that early writers, Dante among them, also used ''terra'' and ''villa'' for a town.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|1, 1456) Today the word names any large town, the municipality as an administrative body, and a district with a character of its own, such as the ''città vecchia'' or ''città alta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Many set phrases name particular cities: the ''città eterna'' is Rome, the ''città della Madonnina'' Milan, the ''città del Giglio'' Florence and the ''città santa'' Jerusalem.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011) ''Città aperta'', an undefended city that the belligerents agree not to attack, dates from the 20th century.^(DEI|968)^(GDLI) ''Città dei ragazzi'', a community for homeless boys, is a calque of English ''Boys Town'', the village that Father Edward Flanagan founded in Nebraska and that a film made famous.^(DELI 1999) DELI also notes the political meaning that ''cittadino'' “citizen” took on after the French Revolution.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Civitate'' appears in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1225 – The form ''città'' is recorded, in Garzo.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1266 – ''Cittadino'' “citizen” is recorded, perhaps in Guidotto da Bologna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''cittadinanza'' for the body of citizens.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses ''cittadella'', a city's fortress.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 20th century – ''Città aperta'' “open city” is recorded.^(DEI|968)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|city]] or large [[m|en|town]], a centre of economic, administrative and cultural life: ''Dopo vent'anni in campagna è tornata a vivere in città.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With ''di'' and a place name, especially in official use: the [[m|en|municipality]] as an administrative body.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A title held by towns of historic standing, even small ones.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A part of a city with its own character: ''città vecchia'', ''città alta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The inhabitants of a city, the citizens: ''Quella sera tutta la città scese in piazza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cittadella]]

+ * [[cittadinanza]]

+ * [[cittadino]]

+ * [[cittadina]]

+ * [[concittadino]]

+ * [[stracittadino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[civile]]

+ * [[civico]]

+ * [[civiltà]]

+ * [[la|cīvitās]]

+ * [[fr|cité]]

+ * [[en|city]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Città'' is feminine and invariable: ''la città, le città''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) The stress falls on the final syllable, which is why it is written with an accent.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}