zona Italian · revision 38142

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1306, Iacopone da Todi|origins=grc ζώννυμι}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈd͡zɔ.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zona''' ''f'' (plural zone)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|zōna|t=belt, girdle]], [[der|grc|ζώνη|tr=zṓnē|t=belt, girdle]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word comes from the root of [[m|grc|ζώννυμι|tr=zṓnnumi|t=to gird]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) It is a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|21, 1091)

+

+ From “belt” the Greek and Latin word passed to a belt of earth or sky, and geographers and astronomers used it for the five climatic belts of the earth: two cold, two temperate and one torrid.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The word spread across the European languages, as [[fr|zone]] and [[es|zona]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records, in Iacopone da Todi before 1306 and in Dante, have the sense “band, belt”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Iacopone writes “Con vile zona ti lega d'amore” (he binds you with a lowly belt of love).^(Prati 1951|1075)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The geographical sense, each of the five belts between the polar circles and the tropics, is already in Dante in 1304–1308, and the ''torrida zona'' is in Passavanti.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|1075) Before 1470 Pulci uses the word for a well-defined territory or region.^(DELI 1999) Medicine used it for shingles, a painful eruption in the shape of half a belt, in 1828.^(Prati 1951|1075)

+

+ The general sense “delimited surface or space” is recorded only in 1877.^(DELI 1999) Later uses include urban areas such as ''zona industriale'' and ''zona pedonale'', the ''zona giorno'' and ''zona notte'' of a flat, the telegraph tape, and in team games the part of the pitch a player covers, recorded in 1955.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The ''zona grigia'', the grey area between legal and illegal, recalls the English ''grey area'', used in 1963 for an economically intermediate territory.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone uses ''zona'' for a band or belt.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for the climatic belts of the earth.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1470 – Pulci uses it for a region.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1828 – ''Zona'' is recorded for shingles.^(Prati 1951|1075)

+ * 1877 – The sense “delimited space” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1939–1940 – ''Zonale'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1955 – The sporting sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A part of a surface or of space; a [[striscia|alt=strip]] or [[fascia|alt=band]]: ''Il tramonto lasciava sul mare zone rosse e zone scure.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # An [[m|en|area]] or [[regione|alt=region]] with particular geographical, economic or administrative features: ''In quella zona si coltivano soprattutto ulivi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A part of a town, a [[quartiere|alt=district]]; an urban area set aside for some use: ''Cercano casa in una zona tranquilla vicino al parco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(geography)'' Each of the five belts into which the tropics and the polar circles divide the earth's surface.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ # ''(sport)'' In football, basketball and other team games, a part of the pitch, and the system of marking an area instead of a player: ''La squadra difende a zona.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The paper tape on which a telegraph or teleprinter prints its messages.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(historical)'' In ancient Greece, the belt that held a woman's dress at the waist, ''(literary)'' a [[cintura|alt=belt]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zonale]]

+ * [[zonatura]]

+ * [[zonizzare]]

+ * [[zonizzazione]]

+ * [[zonula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|zōna]]

+ * [[fr|zone]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Dar di zona'', in Tuscan colloquial use, meant to do something with vigour and gusto; it is a separate, probably imitative word.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GDLI|21, 1092)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}