malattia Italian · revision 38213

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la male, la habeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ma.latˈti.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malattia''' ''f'' (plural malattie)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|malatia]], [[roa-oit|malazia]] and [[roa-oit|malitia]].^(GDLI|9, 505)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|malato|-ia]], the abstract noun of the adjective “sick”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Several sources start from [[roa-oit|malatto]], the northern form of the adjective, which continues [[la-lat|male habitus|t=in a bad condition]], from [[m|la|male|t=badly]] and [[m|la|habitus]], the past participle of [[m|la|habeō|t=to have, to hold]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto 1968|267)^(GDLI|9, 505)

+

+ The same formation is [[fr|maladie]], [[pro|malautia]], [[ca|malaltia]] and [[pt|maladia]], and [[scn|malatìa]] in Sicily.^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907) Körting notes that these nouns, with [[m|la|īnfirmitās]] (Italian [[infermità]]), drove [[la|morbus|t=disease]] out of everyday Romance use, so that Italian [[morbo]] lives on only as a learned word.^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The form ''malatia'' appears before 1250 in Giacomo da Lentini, where it already has the figurative sense “ill, vice”, and in the northern poem ''Della caducità della vita umana'' of the 13th century, with the sense “disease”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|9, 505) The form ''malattia'' is first found in Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century Giovanni Villani and Matteo Villani wrote of diseases of cold in winter and many fevers in summer.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The figurative “moral ill, vice” is in a 14th-century translation of Josephus.^(DELI 1999) Modern dictionaries extend the word to plants, and to the faults of materials such as wine, wood and pearls.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ In everyday speech ''malattia'' is also sick leave: one ''si mette in malattia'' and is paid for the days.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Set phrases include ''malattia professionale'' “occupational disease”, ''malattia del bacio'' “mononucleosis” and ''malattia diplomatica'', an illness claimed to avoid an engagement.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''malatia''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 13th century – ''Della caducità della vita umana'' uses ''malatia'' for disease.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the form ''malattia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – A translation of Josephus uses it for a moral ill.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|disease]], an [[m|en|illness]]: any change in the structure or working of an organism or of one of its organs: ''È guarito da una lunga malattia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The time during which one is ill.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Paid sick leave; the days of such leave: ''È a casa in malattia da una settimana.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A disease of plants, caused by parasites, viruses, fungi or the environment.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A fault in a material or substance: ''le malattie del vino''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A disturbance of the mind; a vice or obsession: ''Per lui il gioco è diventato una malattia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A state of crisis.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[malato]]

+ * [[ammalato]]

+ * [[male]]

+ * [[fr|maladie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fare una malattia di qualcosa'' is to take something very badly, to torment oneself over it.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}