nonna Italian · revision 38124

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1419, Giovanni Dominici}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈnɔn.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nonna''' ''f'' (plural nonne, masculine nonno, pejorative nonnàccia, endearing nonnùccia, diminutive-endearing nonnétta or nonnettìna or nonnìna)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|nonna|t=nurse, wet nurse]], a word of children's speech found in late inscriptions, which in Church Latin, from Jerome on, also meant “nun”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2598)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The masculine [[m|la-lat|nonnus]] meant “male nurse, tutor” and “monk”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) Sabatini explains the religious sense as a title of respect for age.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ Nocentini compares [[grc|νάννα|tr=nánna|t=aunt]] and [[en|nanny]], and DELI cites a Greek [[m|grc|νόννος|tr=nónnos|t=father]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) The Church sense passed into [[goh|nunna]] and [[ang|nunne]], the source of English “nun”, and survives in [[fr|nonne]] and [[oc|nona]] “nun”, while [[ro|nun]] keeps the sense “godfather”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2598)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in the Dominican preacher Giovanni Dominici, before 1419, where the word still means “wet nurse”: he speaks of a child “not yet weaned from the breast of the suckling ''nonna''”.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Zingarelli dates the word to 1353.^(Zingarelli 2010) The sense “grandmother” is first recorded in Francesco Berni, before 1535.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Alessandro Allegri, in the early 17th century, mocks the silly tales told by “drooling grannies” by the fire to keep their grandchildren quiet.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In old Florentine, ''buona sera, nonna'' was said of someone who had drunk too much.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DEI notes that the word is at home in northern and central Italy but not in the South, where Sicily, Calabria and the Salento say ''nanna'', a Byzantine word; in Sicilian ''nunna'' means “mother”.^(DEI|2598)

+

+ The word also names an old woman in general, especially as an affectionate form of address, and the phrase ''della nonna'' describes what is old-fashioned or homemade, as in ''torta della nonna''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) In Tuscany it was a popular name of the grey heron, recorded by Paolo Savi in 1823 and suggested by the bird's white forehead.^(DEI|2598) In army slang a ''nonna'' is a conscript about to be discharged, and young people call a slow, awkward person a ''nonna''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) English borrowed the word as ''nonna''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1353 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1419 – Giovanni Dominici uses ''nonna'' for a wet nurse.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses it for a grandmother.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Early 17th century – Alessandro Allegri writes of grannies telling tales by the fire.^(DEI|2598)^(GDLI)

+ * 1823 – Paolo Savi records ''nonna'' as a Tuscan name of the heron.^(DEI|2598)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|grandmother]], the mother of one's father or mother: ''La nonna di Luca abita in campagna.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(familiar)'' An old woman, especially as an affectionate form of address.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(youth slang)'' A slow or clumsy person.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(military slang)'' A conscript close to the end of service.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(zoology)'' The grey [[m|en|heron]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nonnetta]]

+ * [[nonnina]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nonno]]

+ * [[nonnismo]]

+ * [[fr|nonne]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Mia nonna in carriola!'' (“my granny in a wheelbarrow!”) is a joking exclamation of disbelief at an exaggerated claim.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}