finestra Italian · revision 38176

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Giacomino Pugliese|origins=la fenestra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fiˈnɛs.tra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''finestra''' ''f'' (plural finestre, diminutive finestrèlla or finestrétta or finestrìna or finestrìno m, augmentative finestróna or finestróne m, pejorative finestràccia, derogatory finestrùccia or finestrùcola)^(Wiktionary)

+ The archaic and regional form is [[roa-oit|fenestra]], which Sabatini–Coletti call Latinising.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|fenestra|alt=fenĕstra|t=window; opening in a wall]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: [[fr|fenêtre]], [[oc|fenestra]], [[ca|finestra]], [[osp|hiniestra]], [[pt|fresta|t=skylight]], [[sc|fenèstra|t=niche in a wall]] and [[ro|fereastră]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Modern Spanish uses [[m|es|ventana]] instead, from [[m|es|viento|t=wind]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) The Latin word was also borrowed into [[sga|feinester]] and gave [[de|Fenster]].^(DEI|1647)

+

+ The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(OLD 2012) It had a variant [[la|festra|t=small opening]], quoted from Ennius, and editors read [[m|la|fenstra]] in Plautus.^(OLD 2012)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) DELI and Wiktionary think it may be Etruscan, from an unrecorded [[ett|*fnestra]], and DEI suggests that the Etruscan form could itself be Indo-European, from a root meaning “to blow”.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|1647) Nocentini takes the short variant as a hint of an original form from the root of [[m|la|offendō|t=to strike, hurt]], a window being first an opening in a defensive wall for shooting arrows, as with [[feritoia]] and [[fr|meurtrière]].^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto found no Indo-European connections.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giacomino Pugliese, early in the 13th century, for an opening in the wall of a building that lets in air and light, with the shutters that close it.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) His poem recalls the lady who came down to him “through the window of the palace” (''per la finestra de lo palazo'').^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Petrarch used the plural for the eyes (''o belle et alte et lucide finestre'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Diminutives followed: ''finestrella'' (late 13th century, as ''fenestrella'' in the ''Novellino'') and ''finestrino'' (1547 as ''fenestrino'', 1554), which from 1824 named the window of a carriage and later that of other vehicles.^(DELI 1999) ''Defenestrazione'' (before 1892) and ''defenestrare'' (before 1923) come from a 17th-century Latin word coined for the Defenestration of Prague in 1618.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ In 1942 the word is recorded in journalism for a short boxed item that interrupts a column of text.^(DELI 1999) In computing it names an area of the screen, a calque of English ''windows'' according to Devoto–Oli.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In bureaucratic and journalistic language it has come to mean a time window, especially the period in which a worker entitled to a seniority pension can actually draw it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI) A Tuscan proverb says of misfortune ''chi non l'ha all'uscio, l'ha alla finestra'' “if it isn't at your door, it's at your window”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – Giacomino Pugliese uses ''finestra''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Fenestrella'' appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1547 – Trissino uses ''fenestrino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1824 – ''Finestrino'' is used for the window of a carriage.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1892 – ''Defenestrazione'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1942 – The journalistic sense “boxed item” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|window]]: an opening in the outer wall of a building that lets in air and light, usually with a frame, panes and shutters, and also the frame and panes themselves: ''Apri la finestra, qui dentro non si respira.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative, humorous)'' The gap left by a missing tooth.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Any gap or opening in a surface, and in geology a large opening in a nappe.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(printing, journalism)'' A space left for an illustration, or a short boxed item in a newspaper.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(computing)'' A framed area of the screen in which a program or document is shown, and which can be opened, closed, moved and resized.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wikizionario)

+ # ''(bureaucracy, journalism)'' A time window, especially the period in which a worker entitled to a seniority [[m|en|pension]] can retire.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

+ # ''(archaic, in the plural)'' The eyes.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[finestrella]]

+ * [[finestrino]]

+ * [[finestrone]]

+ * [[finestrato]]

+ * [[controfinestra]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[defenestrare]]

+ * [[defenestrazione]]

+ * [[la|fenestra]]

+ * [[fr|fenêtre]]

+ * [[de|Fenster]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''stare alla finestra'' (to look on without taking part), ''buttare i soldi dalla finestra'' (to throw money away) and the proverb ''o mangiar questa minestra o saltar questa finestra'' “take it or leave it”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) A ''porta finestra'' is a French window opening onto a balcony or terrace.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}