enorme Italian · revision 38375

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1309–1310, Sienese statutes|origins=la norma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /eˈnɔr.me/, /eˈnor.me/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''enorme''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural enormi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|inorme]], [[roa-oit|innormo]] and [[roa-oit|inormo]].^(TLIO)^(LEI|21, 482)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|enormis|alt=ēnormis|t=irregular; immense]], properly “out of the rule”, from [[m|la|norma|t=carpenter's square; rule]] with the prefix [[m|la|ex-|t=out of]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012) Devoto takes it from a Latin phrase meaning “out of the norm”.^(Devoto 1968|163) [[abnorme|alt=Abnorme]] has a similar formation.^(DELI 1999) The noun [[enormità]] is a separate loan of [[m|la|ēnormitās]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ [[fr|énorme]], recorded in the 14th century, and [[es|enorme]] are the same learned word.^(DEI|1483)^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary mentions the proposal that the Latin word for a rule came, perhaps through Etruscan, from [[grc|γνώμων|tr=gnṓmōn|t=carpenter's square]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the statutes of a Sienese guild of 1309–1310, where the word means “contrary to the law, unlawful”.^(TLIO) DELI's first record of the modern sense “extremely large, huge” is Giovanni Villani (before 1348).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used ''enorme'' first of offences: unlawful, against divine or moral law, exceptionally grave or dangerous, and only then of size.^(TLIO) The moral sense lives on in ''enormità'' “monstrous act” and in Devoto–Oli's sense “defamatory” (''dire cose enormi'').^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DELI 1999) Zingarelli records an obsolete adverb ''enormemente'' “wickedly” beside the modern “hugely”.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ Today the adjective means “far larger than normal”, also of non-physical things such as a success, a mistake or a sacrifice.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1309–1310 – Sienese statutes use ''enorme'' “unlawful”.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “huge”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1396 – ''Enormità'' appears in Giovanni dalle Celle.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – ''Enormezza'' is recorded.^(DEI|1483)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Much larger than normal; [[m|en|huge]], [[m|en|enormous]]: ''Davanti alla casa c'è una quercia enorme.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(by extension)'' Very great in amount or degree: ''uno sforzo enorme'', ''una quantità enorme di lavoro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Defamatory, outrageous, of words: ''Ha detto cose enormi sul suo socio.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[enormemente]]

+ * [[enormezza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[enormità]]

+ * [[norma]]

+ * [[abnorme]]

+ * [[la|enormis]]

+ * [[fr|énorme]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Both an open and a closed ''o'' are heard: /eˈnɔr.me/ and /eˈnor.me/.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}