nero Italian · revision 37937

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1279, Florentine texts|origins=la niger}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈne.ro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nero''' (feminine nera, masculine plural neri, feminine plural nere, superlative nerissimo, diminutive nerétto or nerettìno or nerìno or (rare) neréllo or (rare) nerellìno)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|niger|t=black, dark]], continuing its accusative, with the loss of /g/ before /r/.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) Devoto compares the same loss in [[intero]] from [[la|integer]], through a spoken form [[la-vul|*nirus]] like [[la-vul|*interus]].^(Devoto 1968)^(GDLI|11, 370) The same word is [[fr|noir]], [[oc|negre]], [[ca|negre]], [[es|negro]], [[pt|negro]] and [[ro|negru]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Sardinian instead uses [[m|sc|nieddu]], from the diminutive [[la|nigellus]], so DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance [[m|la-vul|*nigrus|alt=*/ˈnɪɡr-u/]] only for the continental languages.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DÉRom) The learned borrowing [[negro]] is a doublet of the same Latin word.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The origin of the Latin adjective is unknown: de Vaan and Nocentini find no sure cognates outside Latin.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is a Florentine text of 1279, and Bono Giamboni (before 1292) uses the word for anything of a deep dark colour, as opposed to a light one.^(DELI 1999) In Giamboni a huge knight comes forward “tutto armato d'arme nere” (all armed in black armour).^(GDLI|11, 370) The noun “the colour black” is in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante (before 1321) gives the adjective the sense “sad, wicked”.^(DELI 1999) In the political struggles of Tuscany at the end of the 13th century the ''Neri'' (Blacks) were one of the factions into which the Guelphs split.^(DEI|2573) Tommaseo reports the story that the name arose in Pistoia among the Cancellieri family.^(DEI|2573)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|3, 470) In the 20th century the colour came to stand for the clergy, for Fascism and for shady dealings.^(DEI|2573)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Paolo Monelli traced ''mercato nero'' “black market” to ''borsa nera'', the illegal currency trade after the First World War, and the phrase was in full use by 1941.^(DELI 1999) ''Scatola nera'', the flight recorder, is a calque of English ''black box'' in that sense, used from 1964.^(DELI 1999) In draughts and chess ''il nero'' is the player with the black pieces (1958).^(DELI 1999) Older derivatives are ''neretto'' “blackish” (13th century), later a bold typeface (1918, Gramsci), ''nerezza'' (about 1350), ''nerume'' (before 1342) and ''nerastro'' (before 1730).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1279 – ''Nero'' is recorded in a Florentine text.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a dark colour.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The noun “black” appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “sad, wicked”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – Gramsci uses ''neretto'' for bold type.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1941 – ''Mercato nero'' is in common use.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1958 – ''Nero'' is recorded for the player with the black pieces.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1964 – ''Scatola nera'' is used for a flight recorder, after English ''black box''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|black]], of the darkest colour, like coal or ink: ''Ha un gatto tutto nero con gli occhi gialli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(physics)'' Absorbing all radiation: ''corpo nero'', a [[m|en|black body]], ''buco nero'', a black hole.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of [[m|en|mourning]]: ''paramenti neri'', black hangings.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Dark as opposed to lighter kinds: ''vino nero'', red wine of dark grapes, ''caffè nero'', coffee without milk, and of the sky, overcast.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Tanned, or dark-haired: ''Sei tornata dal mare nerissima!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a person, black-skinned.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Very [[m|en|dirty]]: ''Ha sempre le unghie nere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Gloomy, unlucky or wicked: ''una giornata nera'', a terrible day, ''la pecora nera'', the black sheep.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of [[m|en|Fascism]] or the far right: ''le camicie nere'', the Blackshirts.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Illegal, hidden from the authorities: ''lavoro nero'', undeclared work, ''mercato nero''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|11, 370)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour black: ''Si veste sempre di nero.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A black person.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A Fascist or member of the far right, and in the Middle Ages a member of the Black faction.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(typography)'' Bold type (also ''neretto'').^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''in nero'': off the books, without paying tax: ''pagare in nero''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A black dye or pigment: ''nero di seppia'', squid ink.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nerastro]]

+ * [[nereggiare]]

+ * [[neretto]]

+ * [[nerezza]]

+ * [[nericcio]]

+ * [[nerofumo]]

+ * [[nerognolo]]

+ * [[nerume]]

+ * [[annerire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[negro]]

+ * [[la|niger]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DEI records forms of the type ''negro'' in the dialects of the north (Venice, Lombardy, Emilia, eastern Piedmont, Liguria), ''niuru'', ''nìvuru'' and ''nìguru'' in Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily, and the Byzantine Greek type ''mauro'' in the most Greek parts of the Salento and Calabria.^(DEI|2573) A different, obsolete ''nero'' “water” in 16th-century jocular verse is the Modern Greek ''nerò''.^(GDLI|11, 375)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}