sesso Italian · revision 37935

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1320|origins=la sexus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsɛs.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sesso''' ''m'' (plural sessi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|sexus|t=sex, gender]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same Latin word gave [[fr|sexe]] and [[es|sexo]], and it has spread through the European languages.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) DEI suggests that a popular continuation may survive in [[scn|sessu]] and Logudorese [[m|sc|sessu]] “vulva”.^(DEI|3466)

+

+ The Latin noun is of uncertain origin.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) It is often linked with [[la|secō|t=to cut]], as a division of a species into classes, and the neuter [[m|la|secus|t=sex]] is used only with adjectives such as [[m|la|virīlis|t=male]] and [[m|la|muliebris|t=female]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) De Vaan finds the formation unclear: the word could go back to a present [[ine-pro|*sek-s-|t=to cut up]] or be formed on the stem behind that neuter noun.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word to before 1320, Zingarelli to 1282.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI's first record, for the set of features that make individuals of a species male or female, is the vernacular Crescenzi of about 1350, and the sense “genitals” is in the 14th-century ''Pataffio''.^(DELI 1999) The GDLI quotes Cecco d'Ascoli on the hyena, which “muta il sesso” (changes its sex).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Many derivatives came partly through French: ''sessuale'' (1841, Rosmini) beside French ''sexuel'' (1742), ''sessualità'' (1873) beside ''sexualité'' (1838), and ''sessuato'' (1900) beside ''sexué'' (1880).^(DELI 1999) ''Terzo sesso'' for masculine women follows French ''troisième sexe'' (1842), and ''sessismo'' (1974) and ''sessista'' (1977) follow French ''sexisme'' and ''sexiste''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The sense “sexuality, sex life”, as in ''fare sesso'', comes from English ''sex''.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Ivan Klajn quotes an article in ''L'Espresso'' saying that twenty years earlier it had been felt as a serious barbarism, and was now a barely noticeable Anglicism.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Set phrases include ''il gentil sesso'' or ''il sesso debole'' (women, used jokingly) and ''il sesso forte'' (men), and ''discutere sul sesso degli angeli'', to argue over an unanswerable question.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1320 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * About 1350 – The vernacular Crescenzi uses ''sesso'' for the male or female character.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The ''Pataffio'' uses it for the genitals.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1841 – Rosmini uses ''sessuale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1935 – ''Sessuologia'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1974 – ''Sessismo'' appears, after French ''sexisme''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|sex]]: the features that distinguish male and female individuals of a species: ''Non sappiamo ancora il sesso del bambino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The condition of being male or female: ''persone di entrambi i sessi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Men or women as a group: ''il sesso opposto'', ''la parità dei sessi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|sexuality]], sexual life and the questions about it: ''È un libro che parla di sesso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Sexual activity, ''fare sesso'', to have sex.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|genitals]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sessuale]]

+ * [[sessualità]]

+ * [[sessuato]]

+ * [[asessuato]]

+ * [[sessuologia]]

+ * [[sessismo]]

+ * [[sessista]]

+ * [[transessuale]]

+ * [[intersesso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|sexus]]

+ * [[fr|sexe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DEI and the GDLI give a separate obsolete ''sesso'' “backside, anus”, used by Cellini and Sassetti in the 16th century, from [[la|sessus]], the past participle of [[m|la|sedeō|t=to sit]].^(DEI|3466)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}