falso Italian · revision 38169

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1180–1210, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la fallō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfal.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''falso''' (feminine falsa, masculine plural falsi, feminine plural false, superlative falsissimo); as a noun '''falso''' ''m'' (plural falsi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|falsus|t=false, mistaken]], originally the past participle of [[m|la|fallō|t=to deceive]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DELI notes that the adjective is the inherited word, while [[falsare]], [[falsario]] and [[falsità]] are learned borrowings of Latin derivatives.^(DELI 1999) The same adjective gave [[fr|faux]], [[oc|fals]], [[ca|fals]] and [[dlm|fuals]], and was borrowed into [[es|falso]] and [[pt|falso]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DEI adds that from Gallo-Romance it passed into German [[m|de|falsch]].^(DEI|1590)

+

+ De Vaan derives [[m|la|fallō]] from [[itc-pro|*fal-s-e/o-]] and connects it, with some doubt, with words for “stumble” such as [[grc|σφάλλω|tr=sphállō|t=to bring down]], from [[ine-pro|*(s)gʷʰh₂el-|t=to stumble]]: the sense would have moved from “to make stumble” to “to deceive”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The older explanation from a root for “to lie” does not account for the vowel ⟨a⟩.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the word to 1180–1210, and the TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', of the end of the 12th century, with the sense “not truly what it seems”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(TLIO) DELI's first record, with the sense “untrue”, is in Bonagiunta Orbicciani, before 1257.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the adjective already covered feelings that are pretended, ideas contrary to religious doctrine, statements that are untrue, people who lie or deceive, and objects made to imitate something precious or a forged document.^(TLIO) Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “forged” before 1294, and Brunetto Latini uses the noun ''falso'' for “an untruth”.^(DELI 1999) The TLIO notes the phrase ''fare voci false'' “to sing in falsetto”, the source of ''falsetto'' (1542).^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In music it meant “out of tune” from Giovanni Della Casa (1551–1554), and the noun for a forged work of art is recorded before 1698.^(DELI 1999) DEI records the Latin scientific use “apparently like” in the 19th century, in scientific terms, a sense now usually given by ''pseudo-''.^(DEI|1591) Italian ''falso'' passed into Turkish, and as ''falsu'' into the Arabic of Egypt and the Levant for counterfeit coin.^(DEI|1590)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1180–1210 – The Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' use ''falso''.^(Nocentini 2010)^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1257 – Bonagiunta Orbicciani uses it for “untrue”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “forged”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses the derivative ''falsificare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1542 – ''Falsetto'' is recorded in Paolo Giovio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1551–1554 – Giovanni Della Casa uses ''falso'' for “out of tune”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1698 – It is recorded as a noun for a forged work of art.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|false]], untrue, not matching the facts: ''un'accusa falsa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Mistaken, wrong: ''Mi ero fatto un'idea falsa di lui.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|fake]], forged, counterfeit: ''Il passaporto era falso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Insincere, hypocritical: ''un collega falso e invidioso'', ''falsa modestia''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Out of tune; of a sound or light, altered or unnatural.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(anatomy, botany)'' Like another organ or species but different in origin: ''falsa costola'', “false rib”.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # What is untrue: ''Ha giurato il falso.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[m|en|forgery]], a fake work of art or document: ''Il museo ha scoperto che la statua era un falso.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' The crime of forgery, as in ''falso in atto pubblico'' or ''falso in bilancio''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Falsely, out of tune: ''suonare falso''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[falsità]]

+ * [[falsare]]

+ * [[falsario]]

+ * [[falsificare]]

+ * [[falsificazione]]

+ * [[falsificatore]]

+ * [[falsetto]]

+ * [[falsariga]]

+ * [[falsopiano]]

+ * [[sfalsare]]

+ * [[falsamente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fallire]]

+ * [[fallo]]

+ * [[la|falsus]]

+ * [[fr|faux]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases include ''falso allarme'', ''falsa partenza'' and ''mettere in falsa luce'', “to show in a false light”.^(GRADIT 2003) DEI also lists a mathematical ''falso'' “negative” (of a root) and the old ''regola del falso'', a method of solving equations by trial values.^(DEI|1591)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}