rilassato Italian · revision 38710

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=16th century|origins=la laxus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rilassato''' (feminine rilassata, masculine plural rilassati, feminine plural rilassate)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms are [[roa-oit|relassato]] and the Latinizing ''relaxato''.^(GDLI|16, 358)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the past participle of [[rilassare|t=to relax, loosen]], used as an adjective.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) The verb is a learned form of [[la|relaxō|t=to loosen; to relieve]], recorded as [[roa-oit|relassare]] before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca and as rilassare in Florio's dictionary of 1598.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT treats it as a variant of [[rilasciare]], the popular continuation of the same Latin verb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) The Latin verb is [[m|la|re-]] and [[m|la|laxō|t=to loosen]], from [[m|la|laxus|t=wide, loose]], which de Vaan derives from [[ine-pro|*slǵ-so-]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti date the adjective to the 16th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The early examples in GDLI are medical: limbs weakened by hunger in Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, and stomachs ''rilassati'' in the physician Baldassare Pisanelli.^(GDLI|16, 358)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th and 18th centuries the word described slack fibres, muscles and joints: Francesco Redi writes of vessels grown weak and ''relassate'', and Anton Maria Salvini of the slack muscles of the eye.^(GDLI|16, 358)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Vasari used it for the patient, relaxed pose of a martyr in a painting.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The figurative sense “lax” was applied to morals and discipline: ''costumi rilassati''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The sense “calm, free of nervous tension” is recent: DELI, quoting Carlo Tagliavini (1960), says that ''rilassare'' and ''rilassarsi'' took it from [[en|relax]].^(DELI 1999) In phonetics ''rilassato'' describes a sound made with little muscular tension, opposed to ''teso''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca has the verb as ''relassare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – The adjective ''rilassato'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ * 1598 – Florio records ''rilassare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1960 – Carlo Tagliavini notes the new sense “to relax” after English ''relax''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|relaxed]], free of nervous or emotional tension, calm: ''Dopo una settimana al mare era finalmente rilassato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of muscles, without tension; of skin or tissue, [[m|en|flabby]], sagging.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|lax]], morally slack: ''una disciplina rilassata''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' Of a sound, made with weak muscular tension.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rilassatezza]]

+ * [[rilassatamente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rilassare]]

+ * [[rilassamento]]

+ * [[rilassante]]

+ * [[rilasciare]]

+ * [[la|relaxō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}