fretta Italian · revision 37951

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=1268, Andrea da Grosseto|origins=la fricō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfret.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fretta''' ''f'' (plural frette)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms include [[roa-oit|freta]], [[m|roa-oit|frecta]] and [[m|roa-oit|fricta]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Most etymologists derive it from the verb [[frettare]], which continues [[la-vul|*frictō|alt=*frictāre]], an intensive of [[la|fricō|t=to rub]].^(DEI|1716)^(Devoto 1968)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The same Vulgar Latin verb is continued by [[fro|freter]], [[fr|frotter]] and [[pro|fretar|t=to rub]], although Meyer-Lübke found the French forms hard to explain.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ DELI raises two objections: the meaning does not fit well, and the verb is first recorded only in 1614, as a sailors' word for scrubbing a ship's deck, while the noun is found from the 13th century.^(DELI 1999) Prati had already noted that the verb is late and probably Genoese.^(Prati 1951|466) Nocentini answers that the nautical verb is a late specialisation which implies that the Vulgar Latin verb lived on unrecorded, and he explains the meaning through a vulgar sense “to have sex”, which led to “to be in a rage” and then “to be impatient”, as in [[furia]] beside [[foia]] and in [[fregola]].^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti call the origin uncertain.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Andrea da Grosseto's translation of Albertano (1268).^(TLIO) Brunetto Latini's ''Tesoretto'' advises that mastery “fa 'ndugiar vendetta, / e alungar la fretta” (makes vengeance wait and puts off haste).^(GDLI|6, 356)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DELI dates the sense “urgency” to Bono Giamboni (before 1292) and “speed of movement” to Dante (before 1321).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante writes of two souls who showed “gran fretta / dell'animo” (great eagerness of mind) to reach him, and the ''Fiore di virtù'' names haste with anger and greed as the three enemies of good counsel.^(GDLI|6, 356) Old Italian already had the adverbial phrases ''in fretta'', ''a fretta'' and ''per fretta'', and ''fare fretta'' or ''porre fretta'' for urging someone on.^(TLIO)

+

+ The adjective ''frettoloso'' is recorded before 1313, and Boccaccio used the older ''frettoso''.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|466) Modern Italian keeps ''avere fretta'', ''essere di fretta'' and ''in fretta e furia'' (in a great rush).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1266 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses ''fretta''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “urgency”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1313 – ''Frettoloso'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for speed.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1614 – ''Frettare'' is first recorded, in Pantera's nautical work.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|hurry]], [[m|en|haste]]; the need or wish to do something quickly: ''Scusa, ho fretta'', ''Non c'è fretta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Speed in acting or moving, often too much: ''Ha finito il compito troppo in fretta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[frettoloso]]

+ * [[affrettare]]

+ * [[frettoso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[frettare]]

+ * [[fregare]]

+ * [[la|fricō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''avere fretta'' (to be in a hurry), ''fare fretta a qualcuno'' or ''mettere fretta'' (to rush someone), ''andare di fretta'' and ''in fretta e furia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}