salute Italian · revision 38450

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=ine-pro *solh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /saˈlu.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''salute''' ''f'' (plural saluti)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is [[roa-oit|saluta]], and old and dialect texts also have ''sallute'', ''salù'' and ''salùe''.^(DEI|3325)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GDLI|17, 456)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|salūs|t=health; safety, deliverance]], from the accusative [[m|la|salūs|alt=salūtem]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun was used as a wish and a greeting, and was formed beside [[m|la|salvus|t=safe, unharmed, whole]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) It is found in all the Romance languages except Romanian: [[fr|salut]], [[oc|salut]], [[ca|salut]], [[es|salud]] and [[pt|saúde]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3325)

+

+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*salūts]], earlier [[m|itc-pro|*solūts]], from [[ine-pro|*solh₂-|t=whole, complete]]; [[la|salvus]] is a doublet from the same root.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968|385)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record DELI gives is in Bono Giamboni's ''Vizi e virtù'', before 1292, in the sense “salvation, deliverance”.^(DELI 1999) The sense “health”, the good working of body and mind, appears in the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi, about 1350.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''salute'' was first safety and rescue from danger, and in religious language the salvation of the soul: Dante calls the hound of ''Inferno'' 1 the ''salute'' of ''quell’umile Italia''.^(GDLI|17, 456)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “greeting” has become archaic.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Health, the main sense of the modern word, is recorded from the mid-14th century, and ''salute'' is now one of the basic words of the language.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ As an interjection the word is a toast and a wish to someone who sneezes.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The custom is old: Pliny asks ''Cur sternuentes salutamus?'', “why do we greet those who sneeze?”^(DELI 1999) DELI notes, however, that Latin seems not to have used ''salus!'' itself as a formula, so Benveniste's derivation of [[la|salūtō]] from it has been doubted.^(DELI 1999) Boerio (1829) records ''salute'' said to someone who sneezes, and Tommaseo the toast ''salute al tale''.^(DELI 1999) ''Salutista'', a member of the Salvation Army, is [[fr|salutiste]] (1895); its later sense, someone over-anxious about health, was Neapolitan in 1923.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''salute'' for “salvation”, and ''saluto'' “greeting”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses it for bodily health.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1829 – Boerio records ''salute!'' to someone who sneezes.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1872 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the toast ''salute al tale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1895 – ''Salutista'' “Salvationist” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1986–1998 – The surtax called ''tassa sulla salute'' is in force.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The physical and mental state of an organism, good or bad: ''Come va la salute di tuo padre?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|health]]: wellbeing of body and mind, freedom from illness: ''Lo sport fa bene alla salute.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' Safety, [[m|en|salvation]]; spiritual salvation: ''la salute dell’anima''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A greeting.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''Salute!'': [[m|en|cheers]] (in a toast), or bless you (to someone who sneezes).^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[saluto]]

+ * [[salutare]]

+ * [[salutista]]

+ * [[salutismo]]

+ * [[salutifero]]

+ * [[salutazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[salvo]]

+ * [[salubre]]

+ * [[la|salūs]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases include ''alla salute!'' (in a toast), ''bere alla salute di qualcuno'', ''essere il ritratto della salute'', ''scoppiare di salute'', ''quando c’è la salute c’è tutto'' and the ironic ''ti puzza la salute?'', asked of someone who seems to be looking for trouble.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''Casa di salute'', a private clinic, is a calque of [[fr|maison de santé]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}