peccato Italian · revision 38045

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la peccō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /pekˈka.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''peccato''' ''m'' (plural peccati or (archaic) peccata f, diminutive peccatino or peccatùccio or peccatuzzo, augmentative peccatóne, pejorative peccatàccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|peccado]], [[roa-oit|pecato]] and [[roa-oit|peccao]], and the old plural ''le peccata''.^(GDLI|12, 896)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|peccātum|t=error, fault; sin]], the past participle of [[m|la|peccō|t=to make a mistake, do wrong]] used as a noun.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968|322) Zingarelli calls it a learned word, but the DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance neuter ⟨*/pekˈkatu/⟩, on the evidence of the neuter in Romanian and the old Italian plural ⟨peccata⟩.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DÉRom) Latin had the word from Plautus in the sense “error” and, from Tertullian in the sense “sin”, which Christian writers gave it to translate [[grc|ἁμαρτία|tr=hamartía]].^(DÉRom)

+

+ It is pan-Romance: [[ro|păcat]], [[fr|péché]], [[oc|pecat]], [[ca|pecat]], [[es|pecado]], [[pt|pecado]], [[sc|peccadu]] and [[fur|pecjât|alt=pekad]];^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2812) it was borrowed as [[cy|pechawd]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2812) The origin of Latin [[m|la|peccō]] is unclear: Walde–Hofmann and Ernout–Meillet thought of a form meaning “having a fault in the foot”, but de Vaan doubts it, and Leumann's link with [[ine-pro|*peth₂-|alt=*pet-|t=to fall]] is semantically better but formally odd.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, in the sense “behaviour that breaks the moral and divine law”;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GRADIT dates the word to the first half of the 12th century.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The broader sense “error, fault” is in Guido Cavalcanti, before 1300.^(DELI 1999) Fra Giordano preached that sin is nothing but a mortal enmity between God and man.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) From before 1764, in Francesco Algarotti, ''peccato'' is used in many phrases, often exclamations, to express regret, and the bare exclamation ''peccato!'' is recorded in the 20th century, short for ''che peccato!''.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2812) The same development “sin” > “pity, harm” is found in Romanian ''(e) păcat'', Old French ''pechiet'' and Logudorese ''peccau''.^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2812)

+

+ Spanish ''pecadillo'' “small fault” was borrowed into old Italian as ''peccadiglio'' and into French as ''peccadille''.^(REW 1935) Theology gave the fixed phrases ''peccato originale'', ''peccato mortale'' and ''veniale'', and the seven ''peccati capitali''; popular speech has ''brutto come il peccato'' “as ugly as sin” and the proverb ''peccato confessato è mezzo perdonato''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 12th century – GRADIT's date for the first record.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''peccato'' “sin”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1300 – Guido Cavalcanti uses it for an error.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1764 – Francesco Algarotti uses it in expressions of regret.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 20th century – The exclamation ''peccato!'' “what a pity!”.^(DEI|2812)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(theology)'' A [[m|en|sin]], a deliberate breaking of divine law: ''confessare i propri peccati''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A sinful state, especially a relationship outside marriage: ''vivere nel peccato''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A fault, a mistake; a flaw: ''È stato un peccato di superbia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # With ''essere'' and similar verbs, a [[m|en|pity]], a shame: ''È un peccato che tu non resti a cena.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' Ill fortune, the unfairness of fate.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # What a pity!, too bad!: ''Non vieni? Peccato!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[peccatuccio]]

+ * [[peccatore]]

+ * [[peccaminoso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[peccare]]

+ * [[impeccabile]]

+ * [[la|peccatum]]

+ * [[fr|péché]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}