perdita Italian · revision 38713

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la perdō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɛr.di.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''perdita''' ''f'' (plural perdite)^(Wiktionary)

+ GDLI lists the old form [[roa-oit|perdieta]] and an old dialect ''perdeda''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*perdita|t=loss]], the feminine of [[la|perditus|t=lost, ruined]] used as a noun.^(GDLI)^(DEI|2847)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The adjective is the past participle of [[m|la|perdō|t=to destroy, lose]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Sabatini–Coletti instead treat it as an Italian formation from [[perdere]] with the suffix [[-ita]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The noun is stressed on the first syllable, like the Latin participle.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The same noun is [[es|pérdida]], [[pt|perda]], [[pro|perda]], [[ca|perda]] and [[fr|perte]], recorded in French from the 11th century.^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2847)^(Wiktionary) The verb is a compound of [[m|la|per-|t=through]] and [[m|la|-dō|t=to put]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for the act of losing and for a death.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT dates the word to the second half of the 13th century, and Zingarelli to 1287.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The commercial sense, an excess of costs over income, is in a document of 1367, and the sense “leak, escape of a fluid” in the physician Antonio Cocchi, before 1758.^(DELI 1999) GDLI's long article shows the economic and legal uses: loss of goods by fire, flood or theft, by gambling or waste, and by business that went badly.^(GDLI)

+

+ Modern Italian uses it for the loss of a faculty (''perdita della memoria''), of a position or privilege, of a person dear to one, and in the plural for losses of men and equipment in war.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''Perdita di tempo'' is a waste of time, and ''a perdita d'occhio'' means as far as the eye can see.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1287 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''perdita'' for losing and for death.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – Boccaccio has the word.^(DEI|2847)

+ * 1367 – A document uses it for a financial loss.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1758 – Antonio Cocchi uses it for a leak of fluid.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|loss]] of something one owned; the losing of an object: ''la perdita del passaporto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The loss of a faculty or organ: ''perdita dell'udito''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The loss of an advantage, position or privilege.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|waste]]: ''È stata solo una perdita di tempo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The loss of a person close to one, ''(euphemistic)'' death, [[m|en|bereavement]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(chiefly plural, military)'' [[m|en|casualties]] and losses of equipment.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A defeat, especially at gambling, and the money lost.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(economics)'' An excess of costs over revenue: ''L'azienda ha chiuso l'anno in perdita.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A drop, decrease: ''una perdita di pressione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|leak]] of a liquid or gas.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[perdere]]

+ * [[la|perdō]]

+ * [[fr|perte]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A perdita d'occhio'' “as far as the eye can see” is a fixed phrase.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}