debito Italian · revision 38774

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1219, Montieri document|origins=la habeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈde.bi.to/, /ˈdɛ.bi.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''debito''' ''m'' (plural debiti); adjective '''debito''' (feminine debita, masculine plural debiti, feminine plural debite)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had the popular forms [[roa-oit|devito]] and [[roa-oit|deveto]], especially in Siena and Perugia.^(TLIO)^(LEI|1, 446)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|dēbitum|t=what is owed, debt]], the noun use of the neuter of [[m|la|dēbitus|t=owed]], the past participle of [[m|la|dēbeō|t=to owe]]; the adjective is the participle itself.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DELI and GDLI call both learned, and the LEI notes that the adjective exists in Italo-Romance only in learned form.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(LEI|1, 460)

+

+ The Latin noun also lived on in popular forms: [[rm|deivet]], [[fro|det]], [[ca|deute]] and [[sc|déppidu]], and in central Italy Old Sienese [[m|roa-oit|devito]].^(LEI|1, 446)^(REW 1935) The plural [[m|la|dēbita]] gave [[roa-oit|detta|t=principal of a debt]], [[fr|dette]], [[es|deuda]] and [[pt|dívida]].^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|365) The learned word is also [[fr|débit]] and [[es|débito]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1219)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|dēbeō]] is contracted from a compound of [[m|la|dē-|t=away from]] and [[m|la|habeō|t=to have, to hold]], “to hold something away from someone, to withhold”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The Italian phrase for the national debt is a calque of [[fr|dette publique]], and the one for a floating debt renders [[m|fr|dette flottante]].^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1219)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a document from Montieri of 1219, for what is owed materially or morally.^(TLIO) DELI dates the adjective “due, required by obligation or circumstance” to Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), with a Venetian record of 1282, and the noun “money owed” to a Volterra document of before 1322.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “moral duty” is in Giordano da Pisa (1303–1306), and Dante uses the noun for a moral obligation.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1219) The religious ''debiti'' are the sins for which man owes God, as in the Lord's Prayer: ''rimetti a noi i nostri debiti'', “forgive us our debts”.^(GRADIT 2003) Old Italian ''rendere'' or ''rimettere il debito'' meant to forgive a wrong received.^(TLIO) ''Debitore'' “debtor” is older than the noun, in Mazzeo di Ricco early in the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word passed into the German of merchants as ''Debit'' (1552).^(DIFIT) Modern uses include the economist's ''debito pubblico'' and ''debito estero'', the physiologist's ''debito d'ossigeno'', and in the upper secondary school a deficit in a subject that the pupil must make up.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – ''Debito'' appears in a document from Montieri.^(TLIO)

+ * Early 13th century – Mazzeo di Ricco uses ''debitore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – The adjective is recorded in Venetian.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the adjective.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses the noun for “moral duty”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1322 – A Volterra document uses it for “money owed”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1552 – German ''Debit'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|debt]], money or another thing that one must pay back: ''Ha finalmente estinto il debito con la banca.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(law, accounting)'' The obligation of a debtor towards a creditor; the opposite of ''credito''; a [[m|en|debit]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A duty, moral obligation: ''Sento un debito di riconoscenza verso i miei insegnanti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(school)'' A deficit in a subject that a pupil must make up.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Due, proper, required by duty or circumstance: ''Ha preso le debite precauzioni.'' ''A tempo debito'', at the proper time.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[debitore]]

+ * [[debitamente]]

+ * [[indebitarsi]]

+ * [[indebitamento]]

+ * [[sdebitarsi]]

+ * [[addebitare]]

+ * [[indebito]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dovere]]

+ * [[credito]]

+ * [[la|debitum]]

+ * [[fr|dette]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''ogni promessa è debito'' means that a promise must be kept.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The stress is on the first syllable, ''débito'', with a closed or open ''e''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}