aria Italian · revision 38001

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum|origins=grc ἀήρ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈa.rja/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aria''' ''f'' (plural arie)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|āēr|alt=āera|t=air]], the accusative of [[m|la|āēr]] in its Greek form, taken from [[grc|ἀήρ|tr=aḗr|t=air]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin accusative copied [[m|grc|ἀέρα|tr=aéra]] and is already found in Cicero and Seneca.^(LEI|1, 1056) It changed by metathesis to [[la-vul|*area]] and was taken as a feminine.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Devoto 1968) Devoto points out that the metathesis came late enough for the word to stay apart from [[la|ārea]], which became [[aia]].^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The other Romance languages continue the ordinary Latin accusative ⟨aerem⟩: [[fr|air]], [[oc|aire]], [[ca|aire]], [[es|aire]] and [[pt|ar]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|1, 1056) only Italian and [[sc|àera]] go back to the Greek type.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|1, 1056) Old Italian and the northern dialects also had masculine forms such as [[roa-oit|aire]] and [[roa-oit|aere]], relics of the Latin nominative, which the feminine ⟨aria⟩ displaced.^(LEI|1, 1056)^(GDLI) The origin of the Greek word is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The sense “look, expression” has had separate explanations.^(DELI 1999) DEI derives it from [[fro|aire|t=origin, nature, character]], from the same Latin noun, which merged in French with ⟨air⟩;^(DELI 1999)^(DEI) Prati compares the development of [[boria]] “vanity”.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI) DELI finds Prati's view convincing for “haughtiness”, as in the phrase for putting on airs, but less so for “look”.^(DELI 1999) Gabrielli sees French influence in this sense.^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum'', of the late 12th century.^(TLIO) The masculine ''aire'' is recorded from about 1274, and ''are'' from the 13th century.^(LEI|1, 1056) DELI's first date for ''aria'' as the gas that forms the atmosphere is Dino Compagni's chronicle, 1310–1312.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old Italian the word covered the air as one of the four elements, the sky, a breeze or wind, and a person's look or bearing.^(TLIO)^(LEI|1, 1056) Petrarch speaks of “quel'aria dolce del bel viso adorno” (that sweet air of the lovely face), and DELI dates the sense “look, facial expression” to him.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ In the 16th century ''aria'' came to mean a tune, recorded in 1550, and, from 1720 a vocal or instrumental piece with a set form, the aria of opera and oratorio.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) The musical word spread across Europe: German ''Arie'' (1619), French ''air'' (1608, a calque) and ''aria'' (1703), and English ''aria'' (1742).^(DIFIT) Etymonline dates English ''aria'' “melody for a single voice” to 1775.^(Etymonline) ''Arietta'' is recorded from 1618 for a light air and ''arioso'' from 1829 for a form between aria and recitative.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Aria compressa'' “compressed air” is recorded in 1892 and ''aria condizionata'' in 1938.^(Nocentini 2010) DELI notes, after Klajn, that the second phrase reverses the English ''air-conditioned'': in Italian it is the air, not the room, that is conditioned.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The word appears in the Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum''.^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1274 – The masculine form ''aire'' is recorded.^(LEI|1, 1056)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses ''aria'' for the air.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for a person's look.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1550 – ''Aria'' “tune” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1608 – French ''air'' “tune” copies the Italian sense.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1619 – German borrows the word as ''Aria'', later ''Arie''.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1720 – ''Aria'' names a set piece for voice or instruments.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1742 – English ''aria'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1938 – ''Aria condizionata'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|air]], the mixture of gases, mainly nitrogen and oxygen, that forms the [[m|en|atmosphere]] and is needed for life: ''Apri la finestra, qui l'aria è pesante.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The space above the ground, the sky: ''in aria'', ''per aria'', ''all'aria'' “up, in the air”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Moving air, a [[m|en|breeze]] or [[m|en|wind]]: ''Stasera tira un'aria fresca.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|climate]]: ''l'aria di mare'', ''l'aria di montagna'', ''cambiare aria'', to go somewhere else.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The mood or atmosphere of a place or moment: ''In ufficio si respira un'aria tesa.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Look, [[m|en|appearance]], expression: ''Hai l'aria di chi non ha dormito.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''arie'' (plural): airs, [[m|en|haughtiness]]: ''darsi delle arie'', to put on airs.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' A [[m|en|tune]]; a set piece for solo voice in an opera or oratorio, an [[m|en|aria]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DIFIT)

+ # The [[m|en|choke]] of a petrol engine.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''aria!'' (interjection): clear off!, get out!^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arieggiare]]

+ * [[arietta]]

+ * [[arioso]]

+ * [[aerare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aere]]

+ * [[aereo]]

+ * [[la|āēr]]

+ * [[fr|air]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''all'aria aperta'' “in the open air”, ''aria fritta'' “empty talk”, ''campare d'aria'' “to live on nothing”, ''mandare all'aria'' “to wreck (a plan)” and ''colpo d'aria'', a chill caught from a draught.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Ario'' “Aryan” and its feminine ''aria'' are a different word, from Sanskrit.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}