età Italian · revision 38878

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /eˈta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''età''' ''f'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and literary forms are [[roa-oit|etate]] and [[roa-oit|etade]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(TLIO)

+ Dialect forms include [[scn|aitati]] and Neapolitan [[m|nap|aità]].^(LEI|1, 1170)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|aetās|t=age, lifetime; period]], from the accusative.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) The older forms [[roa-oit|etate]] and [[roa-oit|etade]] were shortened.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DELI treats it as a learned word, but the LEI and the TLIO record a continuous popular tradition.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|1, 1170)^(TLIO) In the north and the south, dialect forms such as [[roa-oit|aitade]] and [[roa-oit|eitade]] keep an unstressed syllable and go back to the archaic Latin form [[m|la|aevitās]].^(LEI|1, 1170)^(DEI|1553)

+

+ The word is found across Romance: [[fro|aé]], [[pro|edat]], [[ca|edat]], [[es|edad]], [[pt|idade]] and [[sc|edade]], but not in Romanian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|1, 1170) Engadine [[m|rm|età]] is borrowed from Italian, and so is a Croatian word for “period” recorded in the 16th century.^(LEI|1, 1170)

+

+ The Latin noun is derived from [[la|aevum|t=time, lifetime]], and the old form is recorded in the Twelve Tables.^(OLD 2012)^(GRADIT 2003) Isidore of Seville already explained it by the older form.^(GDLI) Wiktionary traces it to [[itc-pro|*aiwotāts]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂ey-|t=vital energy, life]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', a Venetian poem of the late 12th century.^(TLIO) DELI's first date is Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), for “the years of one's life”, with the form ''etate''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word also meant each of the stages of human life: in the ''Convivio'' Dante divides life into four parts, ''e chiamansi quattro etadi'', “and they are called four ages”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) The sense “epoch, period” is found before 1337 in Guido da Pisa, and the short form ''età'' in Boccaccio (1339–1340).^(DELI 1999) The geological sense, a division of an epoch, is dated 1846, in Carlo Cattaneo.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The phrase ''in età'', “elderly”, was explained by Puccioni as a calque of the English phrase ''in age'' and by Medici as an Italian creation;^(DELI 1999) DELI thinks the second more likely, since ''avanzato in età'' came first, but allows that the English phrase may have helped it spread.^(DELI 1999) Common phrases are ''mezza età'', ''maggiore età'' and ''minore età'', and names of periods such as ''età della pietra'' and ''età dell'oro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' use the word.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo writes ''etate''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the stages of life.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1337 – Guido da Pisa uses it for “epoch”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1339–1340 – Boccaccio uses the short form ''età''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1846 – Carlo Cattaneo uses it in geology.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|age]]: the number of years a person has lived: ''Alla sua età mio nonno lavorava già.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Each of the stages of human life: childhood, youth, adulthood, old age: ''l'età adulta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The age of an animal, a plant or a thing: ''Gli anelli del tronco rivelano l'età dell'albero.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' Life, lifetime.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|epoch]], [[m|en|era]], historical period: ''l'età di Cesare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaeology)'' A division of the human past by the material used, as ''età del bronzo''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(geology)'' A subdivision of an epoch.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coetaneo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[evo]]

+ * [[la|aetas]]

+ * [[fr|âge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}