ragazzino Italian · revision 38451

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ra.ɡatˈt͡si.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ragazzino''' ''m'' (plural ragazzini, feminine ragazzina)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|ragazzo|-ino]], the diminutive of “ragazzo” “boy”.^(Wiktionary)^(Wikizionario)^(GDLI|15, 312)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Tommaseo's dictionary quotes the word in old texts in the sense of the Latin ''puer'': a servant or attendant of any age, a page, as in a chronicle in which a plot is uncovered through ''uno ragazzino''; by his day this was no longer common.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The GDLI's quotations for “young boy” run from the poet Casti, Foscolo and Giuliani to Piovene and Pasolini, who writes the Roman vocative ''A regazzì''.^(GDLI|15, 312)

+

+ In negative sentences the word stresses maturity: ''non sono un ragazzino'' “I am no child”.^(GDLI|15, 312) It can also be dismissive, for an inexperienced young man, and in colloquial use means a girl's young boyfriend.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A little [[m|en|boy]], a [[m|en|kid]]; also a young teenage boy: ''Due ragazzini giocavano a pallone in cortile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(GDLI|15, 312)

+ # ''(derogatory)'' An inexperienced young man: ''In ufficio lo trattano da ragazzino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|15, 312)

+ # A teenage boy who is going out with a girl of his age; a young [[m|en|boyfriend]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A child, a son in infancy or boyhood.^(GDLI|15, 312)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ragazzinata]]

+ * [[ragazzinesco]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ragazzo]]

+ * [[ragazzetto]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ The feminine is ''ragazzina''.^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Regional forms are ''regazzino'', and in Rome the vocative ''regazzì''.^(GDLI|15, 312)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}