matto Italian · revision 38209

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=inherited|attested=about 1190, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (Genoese)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmat.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''matto''' (feminine matta, masculine plural matti, feminine plural matte)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|macto]] and [[roa-oit|mato]].^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|mattus]], but the history of that word is disputed.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Most dictionaries connect it with the colloquial [[m|la|matus|t=drunk]] of Petronius (“plane mattus sum”, “I am thoroughly drunk”).^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(OLD 2012) That adjective may be a syncopated [[la|*maditus|t=soaked]], beside [[m|la|madidus|t=wet, drunk]] from [[m|la|madeō|t=to be wet]], with the sense moving from “drunk” to “dazed” and “mad”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Devoto 1968|275)

+

+ Nocentini, followed by Devoto–Oli and the TLIO, starts instead from the word glossed as “foolish” in late Latin glossaries, an altered [[la|maccus|t=fool]], the name of the fool of the Atellan farce; [[sc|maccu|t=mad, foolish]] continues it.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(TLIO) He rejects the FEW's single source for all the Romance words in matt- and sees chance homonyms instead.^(Nocentini 2010) DEI notes that the glosses explain the word as both “sad” and “foolish”, and compares [[grc|μάταιος|tr=mátaios|t=vain, foolish]].^(DEI|2394) Meyer-Lübke put the adjective under the Persian chess word for “dead” instead.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Genoese ''Contrasto'' of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, about 1190, with the sense “lacking reason, acting against good sense”.^(TLIO) DELI's first record is in Ubertino d'Arezzo in the 13th century: “if it is wisdom to live a madman's life, your condition is still good” (''S'egli è savere far vita d'om matto, / ancor è bona tua condizione'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun “madman” is in Bonagiunta of Lucca in the 13th century.^(DELI 1999) Dante's Beatrice tells the Christians to be men, not foolish sheep (''Uomini siate, e non pecore matte'').^(Treccani 2011)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In 1561 ''il matto'' is the Fool of the tarot, the card that goes with every other card and never dies.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Later the word meant “odd and hard to handle” (before 1729) and, as an intensifier, “huge” (1869, ''una voglia matta'').^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) It also came to mean false or worthless (''oro matto'', ''soldi matti'') and, of a limb, weak.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) In the northern dialects ''mat'' and ''mata'' mean “boy” and “girl”.^(DEI|2394)^(REW 1935) French borrowed the word as ''mat'' “mad” in 1532.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1190 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras uses the word in Genoese.^(TLIO)

+ * 13th century – Ubertino d'Arezzo uses ''matto''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone uses the derivative ''matteria'' “madness”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1532 – French ''mat'' “mad” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1536 – Pietro Aretino uses ''mattacchione''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – ''Matto'' names the Fool of the tarot.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo records the sense “huge”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1884 – Carlo Dossi uses ''mattoide''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|mad]], insane: ''essere matto da legare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Acting without sense, reckless: ''Sei matto a guidare con questa nebbia?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Odd, eccentric, [[m|en|crazy]]: ''Quel ragazzo è una testa matta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Beside oneself with a strong feeling, as in ''matto di gioia'', and in ''andare matto per'' “to be mad about”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Huge, intense: ''Ho una fame matta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # False, of little value: ''oro matto''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Of a part of the body, weak or unsound: ''un ginocchio matto''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A madman; someone who behaves oddly: ''Guida come un matto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(card games)'' The Fool of the [[m|en|tarot]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[matta]]

+ * [[mattacchione]]

+ * [[mattaccino]]

+ * [[mattana]]

+ * [[mattata]]

+ * [[matteria]]

+ * [[mattoide]]

+ * [[ammattire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pazzo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two minor words share the spelling.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999) ''Matto'' in ''scacco matto'' “checkmate” comes from the Persian chess formula ''shāh māt'' “the king is dead”, through Arabic; the TLIO first finds it in the late 12th century, and DELI dates ''scacco matto'' before 1306.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Matto'' “dull, matte”, said of colours and metals, is recorded in the 13th century in ''oro matto'';^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2394)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI and DEI take it from [[fr|mat]], while Nocentini and the TLIO derive it from Old Italian ''mattare''.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2394)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Set phrases include ''roba da matti'' and ''cose da matti'' “it's crazy”, and ''fossi matto!'' “not on your life!”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}