dettaglio Italian · revision 38864

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1698, Lorenzo Magalotti|origins=la-lat taliō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /detˈtaʎ.ʎo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dettaglio''' ''m'' (plural dettagli)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|détail]], a noun of the 12th century formed from the verb [[m|fr|détailler]], which first meant “to cut into pieces” and then “to sell in small quantities”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1268) That verb is [[m|fr|tailler|t=to cut]] with the prefix [[m|fr|dé-]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) The French verb and [[tagliare]] both continue [[la-lat|taliō|alt=taliāre|t=to cut]].^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ French also had the agent noun [[m|fr|détaillant|t=retailer]] (1694), but in Italian the noun came in first and had by far the most success.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Lorenzo Magalotti (1698), in the sense “circumstance, particular, piece of information”.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT and Nocentini date it to 1699 or shortly before, while Zingarelli gives 1653.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Through the 18th century the word spread among writers and above all among economists such as Delfico, Filangieri and Carli;^(DELI 1999) Algarotti deplored it but used it all the same.^(DELI 1999) The commercial sense, a small quantity of goods, appears in ''mercante a detaglio'' (1767) and in ''vendere al dettaglio'', “to sell retail”, in a report of the Lombard finance administration (1791), though ''in dettaglio'' was then the more common phrase.^(DELI 1999) By the 19th century it had also reached the southern dialects in this commercial sense.^(DEI|1268)

+

+ The purists resisted it: D'Alberti's dictionary of 1797 called it a pure Gallicism that usage was beginning to establish even in educated writing, and, from Antonio Cesari on the 19th-century purists condemned the whole family;^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo's dictionary still marked it as an ugly Gallicism to be avoided.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) It nonetheless became an everyday word, with ''entrare nei dettagli'', to go into detail,^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) and in film-making a shot that frames a single detail.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1698 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses ''dettaglio'' for “particular, detail”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1742 – ''Dettagliato'' “detailed” is recorded in Bernardo Tanucci.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1745 – Giuseppe Baretti uses ''dettagliare'' for “to describe in detail”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1767 – ''Mercante a detaglio'', a retail trader, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1791 – ''Vendere al dettaglio'' appears in a Lombard finance report.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1797 – D'Alberti's dictionary calls the word a Gallicism.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1881 – ''Dettagliante'' “retailer” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|detail]], a small element or particular of a whole: ''Mi ha raccontato la serata con tutti i dettagli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A detail of a work of art or of a design: ''Osserva i dettagli della cornice.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(cinema)'' A [[m|en|close-up]] shot that frames a single detail of a body or object.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(commerce)'' In ''al dettaglio'', [[m|en|retail]], sold in small quantities directly to the consumer, as opposed to ''all'ingrosso'': ''Questo negozio vende solo al dettaglio.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(navy)'' The set of services that supply the daily life of the crew on board a warship.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dettagliare]]

+ * [[dettagliato]]

+ * [[dettagliatamente]]

+ * [[dettagliante]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tagliare]]

+ * [[taglio]]

+ * [[particolare]]

+ * [[fr|détail]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''entrare nei dettagli'', to go into detail, and ''in dettaglio'', minutely, point by point.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) In the sense “particular” the word is a synonym of ''particolare''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}