creatura Italian · revision 38861

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la creō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kre.aˈtu.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''creatura''' ''f'' (plural creature, diminutive creaturina, augmentative creaturóna)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|creātūra|t=creation; creature]], a derivative of [[la|creō|t=to create, bring forth]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Zingarelli and Battaglia call it a learned word, and Prati says it came in through the written language.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951|344) Battaglia gives the Church Latin meaning as “creation” first and “creature” after it.^(GDLI) The Latin noun was made from the feminine of the future participle of the verb.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The sense “person protected by a patron and bound to him”, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli think, was probably modelled on [[fr|créature]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The same Latin word is [[es|criatura]] and [[pt|criatura]], and the Dalmatian of Veglia had [[m|dlm|kratoire]];^(REW 1935) Meyer-Lübke notes that across much of the Romance area it came to mean “child”.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin verb first meant “to make grow”, as when Cato says that dung makes the grass grow, and it is related to [[m|la|crēscō|t=to grow]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary traces it to the root [[ine-pro|*ḱer-|t=to grow]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', of the last quarter of the 12th century, and its first sense is any being made by God, living or not.^(TLIO) DELI dates this sense from Francis of Assisi about 1224, whose ''Cantico'' praises the Lord ''cum tucte le tue creature'', “with all your creatures”.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1250 Giacomo da Lentini already used the word for a child, and for a human being who stirs pity or admiration.^(DELI 1999) The TLIO also records it for a beloved woman or a dear friend, and for a newborn child or a child still in the womb.^(TLIO) Dante calls the Virgin ''umile e alta più che creatura'', “humbler and higher than any creature”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Giovanni Villani, before 1348, used ''creatura'' for a person protected by an influential figure.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) French ''créature'' took this sense in the 16th century, recorded from 1547, and DIFIT counts it as a semantic calque of the Italian word, though Nocentini and Devoto–Oli take the opposite view.^(DIFIT)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Prati also records the old sense “pupil”, someone brought up under another's discipline, in Villani and Berni.^(Prati 1951|344)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' have the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1224 – Francis of Assisi speaks of all God's ''creature'' in his ''Cantico''.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the word for a child.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for a protégé.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1547 – French ''créature'' “protégé” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any [[m|en|being]] or thing that has been created, especially by God: ''Gli uccelli sono creature di Dio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|child]], especially a small one, or one's own child: ''È nata una creatura sana.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person, in expressions of pity or admiration: ''Povera creatura!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(pejorative)'' A [[m|en|protégé]], someone who owes their position to a powerful patron: ''Quel direttore è una creatura del sindaco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A product of the mind, a creation or invention: ''Quel personaggio è la sua creatura più riuscita.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[creaturale]]

+ * [[creaturina]]

+ * [[creaturella]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[creabile]]

+ * [[creare]]

+ * [[crearsi]]

+ * [[creativamente]]

+ * [[creatività]]

+ * [[creativo]]

+ * [[creato]]

+ * [[creatore]]

+ * [[creatrice]]

+ * [[creazione]]

+ * [[la|creātūra]]

+ * [[fr|créature]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An old form ''criatura'' is recorded in Old Italian and in the older dictionaries.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The phrase ''prime creature'' means the angels.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}