basso Italian · revision 38285

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum|origins=la-lat bassus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbas.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''basso''' (feminine bassa, masculine plural bassi, feminine plural basse, superlative bassissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|baxo]], [[m|roa-oit|bassu]] and [[m|roa-oit|vasso]], the last in Aquila around 1430.^(TLIO)^(LEI|5, 19)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|bassus]], found in Latin glosses of the 8th century with the gloss “crassus, non altus” (thick, not tall).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|5, 19) The adjective first meant “fat, stout” (early 6th century) and later “low”, the only sense the Romance languages continue.^(LEI|5, 19)^(DEI|453) Classical Latin has the word only as the surname Bassus, borne by men from Campania, so it is generally taken to be an Oscan word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) Alessio instead proposed [[grc|βάσσων|tr=bássōn]], the Sicilian Greek comparative of [[m|grc|βαθύς|tr=bathús|t=deep]], and Wiktionary also lists a Celtic source as possible.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The same word is [[fr|bas]], [[oc|bas]], [[fur|bas]] and [[sc|bassu]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|5, 19) [[ca|baix]], [[es|bajo]] and [[pt|baixo]] go back to a variant [[la-vul|*bassius]], which also gave [[nap|vascio]] in the South.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI)

+

+ The musical noun continues the Medieval Latin noun, recorded in 1274.^(LEI|5, 19) The military sense of [[bassa]] copies [[es|baja]], and the nautical sense “shoal” of both nouns follows the Spanish and Portuguese words for a sandbank.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|5, 19) Several compounds follow French models: [[bassofondo]] [[fr|bas-fond]] and [[bassacorte]] [[fr|basse-cour]], and the old phrase meaning non-commissioned officers follows [[fr|bas-officiers]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum'' of the late 12th century.^(TLIO)^(LEI) DELI's first record of the basic sense, not rising far above a surface, is in Brunetto Latini before 1294, and GRADIT dates the word before 1276.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Already in Old Italian it was used for things near the ground, for low-lying land, for eyes and faces turned down in shame or humility, and for what is vile or poor.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Most figurative senses are old: ''basso'' “soft” of the voice in Guinizelli (before 1276), “shallow” in Dante (1300–1313), and “mean, vile” in Dante before 1321;^(DELI 1999) ''bassa condizione'' and ''basso stato'' “humble condition” are in Boccaccio (1348–1353).^(DELI 1999) Matteo Villani, before 1363, uses it for the south and for land downstream, towards the sea; hence ''Paesi Bassi'' “the Low Countries” (1567) and ''bassa Italia'' “southern Italy” (1864).^(DELI 1999) The sense “late in a historical period” (''basso latino'', ''basso Impero'') appears in 1573.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ As a noun ''basso'' meant the lower part of anything (Dante), a shoal (1514), and in music the lowest part of the harmony (1602), the singer (1556) and voice (1561) of that register, and the instrument (1640).^(DELI 1999) In Naples a ''basso'' is a ground-floor dwelling opening straight onto the street, from the dialect ''vascio''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The musical word passed to other languages: German ''Bass'' (1512), French ''basse'' (1660), and English ''bass'' in the 16th century and ''basso'' in 1817.^(DIFIT)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Basso'' appears in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1276 – Guido Guinizelli uses it for a soft voice.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for something low.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for what is base or vile.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for the south and for land downstream.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1556 – The noun is recorded for a bass singer.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1567 – Lodovico Guicciardini's ''Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi'' is published.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1602 – ''Basso'' is recorded for the lowest part of the harmony.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1817 – English ''basso'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|low]], not high; of a person, [[m|en|short]]: ''un muro basso'', ''una donna piuttosto bassa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Situated near the ground or below other parts: ''il ripiano più basso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of water, [[m|en|shallow]]: ''Qui l'acqua è bassa, si tocca.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of the eyes or head, lowered, turned down: ''a testa bassa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Southern; lower, nearer the mouth of a river: ''la bassa Italia'', ''il basso Adige''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Late in a historical period: ''il basso Medioevo''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Low on a scale: ''temperatura bassa'', ''prezzi bassi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of a voice, soft; of a sound, [[m|en|deep]]: ''parlare a bassa voce''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Of low rank: ''ufficiali di basso grado''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|base|alt=Base]], mean, ignoble: ''una bassa vendetta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The lower part of something; the bottom: ''dal basso verso l'alto''.^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' The lowest male voice; a singer with that voice; the lowest part of the harmony; the [[m|en|bass]] guitar or another bass instrument.^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(Naples)'' A ground-floor dwelling lit only by its door onto the street.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Low, downwards: ''volare basso''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bassa]]

+ * [[bassezza]]

+ * [[bassotto]]

+ * [[bassura]]

+ * [[bassofondo]]

+ * [[bassopiano]]

+ * [[bassorilievo]]

+ * [[bassotuba]]

+ * [[abbassare]]

+ * [[abbasso]]

+ * [[dabbasso]]

+ * [[ribassare]]

+ * [[ribasso]]

+ * [[sbassare]]

+ * [[contrabbasso]]

+ * [[bassista]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fr|bas]]

+ * [[la-lat|bassus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''alti e bassi'' “ups and downs”, ''fare man bassa'' “to make off with everything”, ''colpo basso'' “a low blow”, and ''essere in basse acque'' “to be hard up”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}