nord Italian · revision 38301

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=first half of the 14th century, Francesco Pegolotti|origins=ang norþ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈnɔrd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nord''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms are [[roa-oit|north]] and [[roa-oit|norto]], and later ''nort'' and ''norte''.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|701)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|norte]] and [[fr|nord]], which go back to [[ang|norþ]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Prati 1951|701)^(Wiktionary) Migliorini held that the names of the cardinal points came into Italian through Spanish, so that the Hispanising forms “norte” and “oeste” came first and were later overtaken by the forms used in France;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) GRADIT and Devoto–Oli derive the word from Spanish.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Nocentini takes it from French, from which Spanish also has it.^(Nocentini 2010) The French word is recorded as [[fro|nort]] from 1120.^(GDLI|11)

+

+ Zaccaria thought that the word came neither from France nor from Spain but through the treatises of cosmographers from the Low Countries and Germany, since Giuseppe Moleti, the first author to use it, called it a northern word.^(Zaccaria 1901)

+

+ The English word is Germanic, like [[non|norðr]] and [[goh|nord]].^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini compares [[grc|νέρτερος|tr=nérteros|t=lower]] and [[xum|nertru|t=on the left]]: it was an old adjective of orientation towards the rising sun, in which the left hand side is the north.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Francesco Pegolotti's ''Pratica della mercatura'' (Florentine, first half of the 14th century), with the forms ''north'' and ''norto'', for the cardinal point.^(TLIO) In 1358 Simone da Lentini's Sicilian translation of the history of the Norman conquest of Sicily explains the name of the Normans from English ''North'', which “in our language” means the northern lands.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1534 Pietro Martire's translation speaks of the ''mar di Nort'', and in 1561 Giuseppe Moleti noted that the sailors of the Mediterranean called the wind from the pole ''tramontana'' while those of the ocean called it ''north''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The form ''nord'' is recorded in Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti in 1761, and in 1908 Panzini wrote that the Italianised ''norte'' was no longer used.^(DELI 1999) The Latin-based words [[settentrione]] and [[tramontana]] remain in use beside it.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The sense “northern part of a country” is recorded in 1834.^(DELI 1999) With a capital, ''il Nord'' names the industrial north of Italy and, in politics and journalism, the rich countries of the world.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) As an invariable adjective (''parete nord'', ''Milano nord'') it is recorded in 1970.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 14th century – Pegolotti writes ''north'' and ''norto''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1358 – Simone da Lentini explains the English word ''North''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1504 – Amerigo Vespucci writes ''nordodeste'' “north-west”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1534 – Pietro Martire writes ''mar di Nort''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1561 – Giuseppe Moleti writes ''north'' and ''northest''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1761 – The form ''nord'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1834 – The sense “northern region” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1970 – The adjective use is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|north]], the cardinal point shown in the northern hemisphere by the [[m|en|pole star]]: ''La finestra della cucina guarda a nord.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The northern part of a country, a region or a continent: ''Sono nati nel nord della Francia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(capitalised)'' Northern Italy: ''Molti si trasferirono al Nord per lavorare in fabbrica.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(capitalised)'' The industrialised countries of the world.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(bridge)'' The player who partners South.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable)'' [[m|en|northern]], facing north: ''la parete nord della montagna''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nordest]]

+ * [[nordovest]]

+ * [[nordico]]

+ * [[nordista]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sud]]

+ * [[settentrione]]

+ * [[tramontana]]

+ * [[fr|nord]]

+ * [[es|norte]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Perdere il nord'' means to lose one's bearings.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Before other words ''nord'' forms compounds: ''Nord America'', ''nordamericano'', ''nordafricano''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}