chiuso Italian · revision 37997

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1236, San Gimignano document|origins=ine-pro *kleh₂u-d-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkju.zo/, /ˈkju.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chiuso''' (feminine chiusa, masculine plural chiusi, feminine plural chiuse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the past participle of [[chiudere]], used as an adjective and a noun.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) It continues [[inh|la|clūsus|t=shut]], a variant of [[m|la|clausus]], the past participle of [[m|la|claudō|t=to close]].^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI) DELI explains that the form with ⟨ū⟩ was remade on compounds such as [[m|la|inclūdō]] and [[m|la|reclūdō]]; it replaced the older verb from Seneca's time and is continued in the Romance languages except the western ones, from Sardinia to Portugal.^(DELI 1999) In northern Italy the classical [[m|la|clausum]] survives in [[chiosso]] “fenced field”.^(DEI)

+

+ De Vaan traces [[m|la|claudō]] to [[itc-pro|*klaud-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*kleh₂u-d-|t=to shut]], the root of [[la|clāvis|t=key]] and [[m|la|clāvus|t=nail]], which gave [[chiave]] and [[chiodo]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is a San Gimignano document of 1236, where ''chiuso'' is a noun, an enclosure for keeping livestock.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) The adjective “shut, not open” is recorded in Restoro d'Arezzo in 1282.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used the adjective of doors, buildings, clothes, sealed letters and closed books, and of a person who keeps his feelings to himself.^(TLIO) DELI dates the figurative sense “impenetrable, reserved” to Petrarch, before 1374.^(DELI 1999) Dante's simile of the sheep coming out of the fold, “come le pecorelle escon del chiuso”, keeps the noun's first sense.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI) The sense “stuffy room” is recorded before 1639, in Campanella.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many modern phrases are built on the adjective: ''a porte chiuse'' “behind closed doors”, ''a occhi chiusi'' “blindly, with complete trust”, ''casa chiusa'' “brothel”, and ''numero chiuso'' for limited admission to a university course.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The adjective also became a term of phonetics, mathematics and music.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1236 – A San Gimignano document uses ''chiuso'' for a livestock pen.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses the adjective “shut”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for “reserved”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1639 – Campanella uses the noun for a stuffy place.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|closed]], [[m|en|shut]]: ''Bussa, la porta è chiusa'', ''con gli occhi chiusi''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Blocked, not allowing passage: ''una strada chiusa al traffico''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Not open for business, temporarily or for good: ''Il museo è chiuso il lunedì.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Finished, settled: ''un capitolo chiuso'', ''caso chiuso''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of clothes, high-necked or buttoned up: ''un abito chiuso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Of a person, [[m|en|reserved]], uncommunicative; of a mind, narrow: ''È un ragazzo chiuso, parla poco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Obscure, hard to understand: ''un linguaggio chiuso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' Of a vowel, close; of a syllable, ending in a consonant.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of the sky or weather, overcast.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|enclosure]] or fold for livestock.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)

+ # ''al chiuso'': indoors: ''Con questo freddo è meglio giocare al chiuso.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Stale, stuffy air: ''odore di chiuso''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chiusamente]]

+ * [[semichiuso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chiudere]]

+ * [[chiusa]]

+ * [[chiusura]]

+ * [[chiosso]]

+ * [[la|clausus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary gives both /ˈkju.zo/ and /ˈkju.so/, with a voiced or a voiceless ⟨s⟩;^(Wiktionary) Sabatini–Coletti marks it voiced.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}