innocente Italian · revision 38186

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=la noceō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /in.noˈt͡ʃɛn.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''innocente''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural innocenti, superlative innocentissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|innociente]] and the shorter [[m|roa-oit|nocente]].^(DEI|2038)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|innocēns|t=harmless; blameless]], formed [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|nocēns|t=harmful; guilty]], the present participle of [[m|la|noceō|t=to harm]]: literally “one who does no harm”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The noun [[innocenza]] is [[m|la|innocentia]].^(DELI 1999) The same Latin word gave [[fr|innocent]], recorded about 1080, and [[es|inocente]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2038) The verb is continued in [[nuocere]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Dante, 1300–1313, in the sense “not guilty”;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) GRADIT dates the word before 1313 and Zingarelli to 1268.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) In ''Inferno'' 33 Dante pleads for Ugolino's sons: ''Innocenti facea l'età novella'', “their young age made them innocent”.^(GDLI|8, 38)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1338 Bindo Bonichi used the word for someone who does not know evil, and Giovanni Villani before 1348 for words or acts without malice.^(DELI 1999) Dante also used it as a noun for a guiltless person, and Giordano da Pisa in 1304 for the children of Bethlehem killed by Herod.^(DELI 1999) The feast of the Holy Innocents is named in the 14th century;^(DEI|2038) DEI notes that the Roman Church called them ''innocentes'' where other Latin churches said ''infantes''.^(DEI|2038) Through them the word came to mean any child, and in Tuscany a foundling, as in Florence's ''Spedale degli Innocenti''.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ From the 18th century the word also meant “simple-minded”, a sense common in many dialects, which also reached the Sardinian of Campidano.^(DEI|2038) In the 17th century ''all'innocente'' was a fashion of wide women's dresses without a belt, after French ''robe à l'innocente''.^(DEI|2038) The pair ''innocentisti'' and ''colpevolisti'', those who believe a defendant innocent or guilty before the verdict, arose during the Graziosi trial of November 1947.^(DELI 1999) German music took ''innocente'' as a direction, “to be played simply”.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1268 – First date given by Zingarelli.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''innocente'' “not guilty”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for the Holy Innocents.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1338 – Bindo Bonichi uses it for someone who knows no evil.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1947 – ''Innocentista'' arises during the Graziosi trial.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|innocent]], not [[colpevole|alt=guilty]], free of moral or legal blame: ''L'imputato si è sempre dichiarato innocente.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Who has done no wrong in general: ''sangue innocente'', the blood of the guiltless.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Who does not know evil, free of malice; [[ingenuo|alt=naive]]: ''era innocente come un neonato''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of looks, words or acts, showing no malice: ''Era solo una domanda innocente.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary, archaic)'' [[innocuo|alt=Harmless]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An innocent person: ''Hanno condannato un innocente.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A child, ''la strage degli innocenti'', the Massacre of the Innocents.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(Tuscan)'' A [[trovatello|alt=foundling]] brought up in an orphanage.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(ironic)'' Someone who plays the innocent: ''Non fare l'innocente!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[innocenza]]

+ * [[innocentemente]]

+ * [[innocentista]]

+ * [[innocentismo]]

+ * [[innocentino]]

+ * [[innocentone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[innocentare]]

+ * [[innocuo]]

+ * [[nuocere]]

+ * [[la|innocens]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Innocente'' is the opposite of ''colpevole''.^(Zingarelli 2010) A proverb: ''meglio assolvere un reo che condannare un innocente''.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}