altezza Italian · revision 38815

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=la altus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /alˈtet.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''altezza''' ''f'' (plural altezze)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|alteza]], [[roa-oit|altecça]], [[roa-oit|aitezza]], [[roa-oit|altessa]] and [[roa-oit|alticza]].^(TLIO) The word is [[pms|autessa]] and Milanese [[lmo|altèzza]].^(LEI|2, 370)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|altitia|t=height]], a derivative of [[la|altus|t=high]] with the suffix [[m|la|-itia]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|145) The Late Latin word, recorded in the veterinary treatise of Chiron, took the place of classical [[m|la|altitūdō]] in the Romance languages.^(DEI|145)^(LEI|2, 370)^(Devoto 1968) Within Italian it can also be read as [[af|it|alto|-ezza]].^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The same word is [[fro|hautesse]], [[pro|auteza]], [[ca|altesa]], [[es|alteza]], [[pt|alteza]], Engadine [[m|rm|otezza]] and Old Sardinian [[m|sc|altithia]].^(LEI|2, 370)^(REW 1935) The figurative senses “power” and “excellence, nobility” are shared by most of these languages.^(LEI|2, 370) Some southern Old Italian forms continue the variant suffix [[m|la|-ities]] instead of [[m|la|-itia]].^(LEI|2, 370)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|altus]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*altos]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary derives it from [[ine-pro|*h₂eltós]], a verbal adjective of [[ine-pro|*h₂el-|t=to grow, nourish]], the root of [[la|alō|t=to feed]] and of [[gem-pro|*aldaz|t=old]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that the adjective has the form of the participle of [[m|la|alō]], but finds the meanings hard to connect, and he gives the Germanic words for “old” only as a possible cognate.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Uguccione da Lodi, a Cremonese poet of the early 13th century.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “dimension from the base to the top; a high point or degree” to Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250.^(DELI 1999) At the start of the ''Inferno'' Dante, frightened by the she-wolf, says ''ch'io perdei la speranza de l'altezza'', “so that I lost hope of the height”.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used ''altezza'' for height and elevation above the ground, for the stature of a person, for the level of a liquid and for depth, and in Rustico Filippi (before 1300) for the open sea.^(TLIO)^(LEI|2, 370) It also named a high place or fortress, the summit of something, the vault of heaven and the kingdom of heaven.^(TLIO) Figuratively it meant dignity, high rank and glory, and excellence or nobility of mind; in love poetry it praised the worth of the lady.^(TLIO)

+

+ As a title of princes, “Highness”, the word is recorded from before 1276, as ''altessa''.^(DIFIT) It passed into French as ''altesse'' (1500), and English used ''altezza'' as a title from 1599, beside Spanish ''alteza''.^(DIFIT) The sense “latitude” is first recorded in Daniello Bartoli, before 1685.^(DELI 1999) The phrases ''essere all'altezza di'' and ''all'altezza della situazione'', “to be equal to something”, were coined on the model of French ''être à la hauteur de'', recorded from 1792.^(LEI|2, 370)

+

+ Modern technical uses include the altitude of a triangle or prism in geometry, the angle of a star above the horizon in astronomy, the pitch of a sound in music and the width of a bolt of cloth between the selvages.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi writes the earliest recorded ''altezza''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1276 – ''Altessa'' is recorded as a title of princes.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1300 – Rustico Filippi uses it for the open sea.^(LEI|2, 370)

+ * c. 1319 – Dante uses it for the vertical dimension of a body.^(LEI|2, 370)

+ * 1500 – French ''altesse'' is recorded as a title.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1599 – English ''altezza'' is recorded as a title.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1685 – Daniello Bartoli uses ''altezza'' for “latitude”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1838 – German ''Altezza'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|height]]: the vertical extent of a body or object, from its base to its top: ''La torre ha un'altezza di quaranta metri.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The [[statura|alt=stature]] of a person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # The [[profondità|alt=depth]] of a body of water.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The width of a fabric between its two selvages.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A height above the ground; a high place: ''Dall'altezza del rifugio si vede il lago.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Loftiness, [[nobiltà|alt=nobility]], excellence: ''altezza d'animo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # [[m|en|highness|alt=Highness]], a title of princes and members of royal houses, usually capitalized: ''Sua Altezza''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(geography)'' [[latitudine|alt=Latitude]], ''all'altezza di'', level with, near a given point.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(geometry)'' [[m|en|altitude]]: the perpendicular from a vertex to the opposite side, or the distance between the bases of a solid.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(music)'' [[m|en|pitch]]: how high or low a sound is.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The angle between the direction of a star and the plane of the horizon.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[altezzoso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alto]]

+ * [[altitudine]]

+ * [[la|altus]]

+ * [[fr|altesse]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Essere all'altezza'' (''di qualcosa'', ''della situazione'') means to be equal to a task.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}