nato Italian · revision 38448

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1310–1312, Dino Compagni|origins=ine-pro *ǵn̥h₁tós}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈna.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nato''' (feminine nata, masculine plural nati, feminine plural nate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|natus|alt=nātus|t=born; son]], the past participle of [[m|la|nascor|alt=nāscor|t=to be born]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word had an older form [[m|la|gnatus|alt=gnātus]], which shows its link with [[m|la|gignō|t=to beget]], so that it first meant “begotten”.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) It goes back to [[itc-pro|*gnātos]] and [[ine-pro|*ǵn̥h₁tós|t=begotten, produced]], from the root [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|t=to beget, give birth]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) Devoto notes that the same formation is found in Indo-Iranian and Germanic.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The word is pan-Romance, and in several languages it turned into a noun: [[ro|nat|t=child]], [[pro|nada|t=girl]], [[fro|nee]] and [[sc|nadu]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI) [[es|nada]] and [[pt|nada]] “nothing” come from the phrase [[la|rem natam|t=a thing born, anything in the world]], used in negative sentences.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DEI traces the noun use back to Columella, who already used the plural noun for the young of lambs and pigs.^(DEI|2552) The learned derivatives [[natale]], [[nativo]] and [[natio]] come from the same Latin family.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record of the adjective, “come into the world, born”, is in Dino Compagni's chronicle of 1310–1312;^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2552) DEI dates the word to the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2552) Compagni writes of the pope Benedict, “born at Treviso” (''nato di Trevigi'').^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante used the noun ''nato'' for “son” before 1321, a sense that is now literary: in the ''Paradiso'' he speaks of “Israel with his father and with his sons” (''Israel con lo padre e co' suoi nati'').^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Placed after a noun, the adjective came to mark a quality someone has had from birth, either a defect (''cieco nato'', blind from birth) or a natural gift (''un oratore nato'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Before a woman's maiden name, ''nata'' is recorded from Bernardo Davanzati's Tacitus of 1600;^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DELI reports that it was held to be a calque of [[fr|née]], though Viani defended it as native.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The plural noun for people born in a given year or period, ''i nati del 1990'', is dated by DELI to 1958.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Set phrases include ''nato ieri'' “naive”, ''nato morto'' “stillborn”, also of a plan doomed from the start, and ''nato e sputato'' “the spitting image of”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses ''nato'' “born”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''nato'' as a noun, “son”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1600 – Bernardo Davanzati uses ''nata'' before a maiden name.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1905 – Panzini compares ''nata'' with French ''née''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1958 – ''Nato'' is recorded for a person born in a given year.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|born]], come into the world: ''Il puledro è nato stanotte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # After a noun, having a quality or defect from [[m|en|birth]], or a natural gift for something: ''È un cuoco nato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Before a surname, giving a married woman's [[m|en|maiden name]]: ''Giulia Neri nata Fabbri''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(mostly plural)'' A person born in a given year or period: ''i nati dopo il Duemila''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary)'' A [[m|en|son]], a child; also the young of an animal.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[natale]]

+ * [[natalità]]

+ * [[natalizio]]

+ * [[natio]]

+ * [[nativo]]

+ * [[natività]]

+ * [[neonato]]

+ * [[malnato]]

+ * [[innato]]

+ * [[antenato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[natura]]

+ * [[la|natus]]

+ * [[la|nascor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''NATO'' (feminine), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a different word, the English acronym.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Old Italian also had a noun ''nato'' “swimming”, from ''natare'', in the phrase ''a nato''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}