denaro Italian · revision 38438

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1193, document from the Marche|origins=la decem}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /deˈna.ro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''denaro''' ''m'' (plural denari)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older and dialect forms include [[danaio]], [[denaio]], [[dinaro]] and [[danaro]], which is still in use beside ''denaro''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) Old texts also have [[m|roa-oit|dener]], [[m|roa-oit|denar]] and many other spellings.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|dēnārius|t=a coin worth ten asses]], short for a phrase meaning “coin of ten”, from [[m|la|dēnī|t=ten each, ten at a time]], the distributive of [[m|la|decem|t=ten]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary takes it through a non-Tuscan dialect in which Latin /rj/ gave /r/.^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|denier]], [[oc|dinier]], [[ca|diner]], [[es|dinero]] and [[pt|dinheiro]], and it was borrowed into Celtic and, as [[eu|diru]], into Basque.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1246)

+

+ The regular Tuscan outcome of the Latin ending was ⟨-aio⟩, as in old [[danaio]] and in [[salvadanaio]], where it survives, while the Latin plural in ⟨-arii⟩ gave Tuscan ⟨-ari⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Because the word was used above all in the plural, DELI explains the singular in ⟨-aro⟩ as remade from the plural in ⟨-ari⟩, helped by the neighbouring dialects of Umbria and Lazio, where the suffix gives ⟨-aro⟩ anyway.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(DEI|1246) Nocentini calls the present form the northern variant that replaced the Tuscan form.^(Nocentini 2010) The form [[danaro]] shows the change of an unstressed ⟨e⟩ in the first syllable to ⟨a⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The forms with ⟨i⟩ may come from [[gkm|δηνάριον|tr=dinárion]].^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|368) Through Byzantine Greek the Latin word also became the name of the [[dinaro]] of the former Yugoslavia and of the Arab [[dinar]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1246) [[derrata]] goes back to the same word, through [[fro|denree]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|19, 1036)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in a document from the Marche of 1193.^(TLIO) DELI dates the coin sense in the form ''dinaro'' to 1219, in the ''Breve di Montieri'', a Tuscan mining statute: “three ''dinari'' of bread, or bread worth three ''dinari''”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) The name stood first for the silver coin of Rome, worth ten asses, and then for the coins of medieval Europe.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in the 13th century the word was also used collectively for money and wealth: ''dinaro'' in Ruggerone da Palermo, ''danaro'' in Brunetto Latini before 1294, and ''denaro'' in Cecco Angiolieri before 1313.^(DELI 1999) In Florence the ''denaro'' was the smallest coin, a twelfth of the ''soldo'', and there were silver ''denari grossi'' and copper ''denari piccoli''.^(GDLI)^(DIFIT)^(TLIO) Old Italian used it as a byword for something worthless, as in ''non valere un denaro'' (not to be worth a penny).^(TLIO)

+

+ As a weight, the ''denaro'' was a twenty-fourth of an ounce (Redi uses ''danaio'' in this sense),^(Prati 1951|368)^(GRADIT 2003) and, from 1932 it is recorded as the unit of fineness of silk and other yarns.^(DELI 1999) The plural ''denari'' names a suit of Italian playing cards, first in a document of the Este court in 1442 (''dinari'') and in Pietro Aretino in 1536.^(DELI 1999) In finance the word means money available for short-term loans and, on the stock exchange, the bid price, the opposite of ''lettera''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ The proverb ''il tempo è denaro'' translates English “time is money”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) German borrowed the word as a historical term, ''Denaro'' (1571).^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1193 – A document from the Marche has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * 1219 – ''Dinaro'' appears in the ''Breve di Montieri''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''danaro'' for money in general.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses the form ''denaro''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1442 – ''Dinari'' is recorded as a suit of playing cards.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1571 – German ''Denaro'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1932 – The ''denaro'' is recorded as a measure of the fineness of yarn.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|money]], taken collectively: coins and notes, or wealth in general: ''Non ho abbastanza denaro per comprare la macchina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' The [[m|en|denarius]], the silver coin of ancient Rome, worth ten asses; also the name of various coins of medieval Europe, such as the French ''denier''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(economics)'' Savings available for short-term loans: ''il costo del denaro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(finance)'' On the stock exchange, the demand for shares or foreign currency, and the price a buyer is ready to pay for them.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(card games, plural)'' Coins, one of the four suits of Italian playing cards: ''Ho in mano il re di denari.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(textiles)'' A unit of the fineness of yarns, the [[m|en|denier]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(historical)'' An old unit of weight, a twenty-fourth of an ounce.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Prati 1951|368)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[danaroso]]

+ * [[salvadanaio]]

+ * [[denarino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[derrata]]

+ * [[dinaro]]

+ * [[la|denarius]]

+ * [[la|decem]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Denaro'' and the more colloquial ''soldi'' mean the same.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Set phrases include ''denaro contante'' (cash), ''denaro sporco'' (money from crime) and ''buttare il denaro'' (to waste money).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}