profondo Italian · revision 38201

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1260, Laude cortonesi|origins=ine-pro *bʰudʰ-n-ó-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /proˈfon.do/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''profondo''' (feminine profonda, masculine plural profondi, feminine plural profonde, superlative profondissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had ''profonno'' and ''profundo''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ DELI and Nocentini treat it as a word taken from Latin, [[bor|la|profundus|alt=profŭndus|t=deep; bottomless]], from the accusative ⟨profundum⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Meyer-Lübke lists it among the Romance outcomes of the Latin word, beside [[sc|profundu]], [[rm|profuond]], [[fro|parfont]] (whence [[fr|profond]]), [[pro|preon]] and [[ca|pregon]], with [[es|profundo]] and [[pt|profundo]] as learned forms.^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) The Latin adjective is formed from [[m|la|fundus|t=bottom]], hence [[fondo]], with [[m|la|prō-]], literally “having its bottom far ahead”.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)^(OLD 2012) Devoto sees in it a crossing of an adjective from [[m|la|profundō|t=to pour out abundantly]] with the noun for “bottom”.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ De Vaan explains [[m|la|fundus]] from [[itc-pro|*fundo-]], by metathesis from [[ine-pro|*bʰudʰ-n-ó-|t=bottom]], and compares [[grc|πυθμήν|tr=puthmḗn|t=bottom]], [[goh|bodam]] and [[ang|botem]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The noun, “depth, bottom”, is recorded first, about 1260 in the ''Laude cortonesi''.^(DELI 1999) The adjective, “having a certain depth”, appears in Ristoro d'Arezzo in 1282, who observes that ''quanto l'acqua è più profonda, tanto se vede più oscura'' (“the deeper the water, the darker it looks”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Jacopone da Todi, before 1306, applied the adjective to intense feelings, and Dante to a person who knows things thoroughly.^(DELI 1999) Dante also used it as an adverb, ''sì parlò profondo'' (“he spoke so deeply”), of a speech too high to understand.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “obscure, hard to understand” is now obsolete.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ The noun took on the sense “the unconscious” in psychology, recorded in 1958, as in ''psicologia del profondo''.^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Profondo Sud'' is a calque of American English ''deep South''.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) In music a ''basso profondo'' is a bass singer with a very low range.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1260 – The noun appears in the ''Laude cortonesi''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – Ristoro d'Arezzo uses the adjective and the noun ''profondità''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''profondare'' for “to sink”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses the adjective for intense feeling.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a person of deep learning.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1676 – ''Approfondire'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1958 – The noun is recorded for the unconscious, and ''profondimetro'' (depth gauge) appears.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|deep|alt=Deep]], with its bottom far below the surface: ''In quel punto il lago è molto profondo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Having a given depth: ''un fosso profondo due metri''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Reaching far inward or into something: ''una ferita profonda'', ''radici profonde''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Forming the innermost or southernmost part of a region: ''il profondo Sud''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a sound or voice, low, [[m|en|grave]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Intense, complete: ''sonno profondo'', ''silenzio profondo'', ''notte profonda'', or of a colour, dark and rich.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of feelings, deeply felt: ''Provo per lui una profonda stima.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Of knowledge or a mind, thorough, not superficial, or of a person, very learned.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|depths]], the innermost part of something: ''nel profondo del bosco''.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(psychology)'' The [[m|en|unconscious]].^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(rare, literary)'' Deeply.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[profondità]]

+ * [[profondamente]]

+ * [[profondare]]

+ * [[approfondire]]

+ * [[approfondimento]]

+ * [[sprofondare]]

+ * [[sprofondamento]]

+ * [[profondimetro]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fondo]]

+ * [[la|profundus]]

+ * [[fr|profond]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}