tetto Italian · revision 38898

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=mid-13th century, Ruggieri Apugliese|origins=ine-pro *(s)teg-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtet.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tetto''' ''m'' (plural tetti)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian had a plural [[m|roa-oit|tettora]].^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3781)^(TLIO) Other old and regional forms include [[roa-oit|tecto]], [[roa-oit|teto]] and [[roa-oit|teito]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|tēctum|t=roof; house]], properly “something covered”, the past participle of [[m|la|tegō|t=to cover]] used as a noun.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|toit]], [[oc|tech]], [[es|techo]] and [[pt|teito]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) it belongs to Italy and the western Romance languages and is missing or rare in southern Italy and Sardinia.^(DEI|3781) In French and northern Italian dialects the word often means “stable” or “cowshed”.^(REW 1935)^(DEI|3781) Some dialect forms, and [[fur|tiet]] in Old Friulian, point to a variant with a short vowel.^(REW 1935)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The long vowel of [[m|la|tēctum]] beside [[m|la|tegō]] is due to Lachmann's law.^(de Vaan 2008) The verb goes back to [[ine-pro|*(s)teg-|t=to cover]], which also gave [[grc|στέγω|tr=stégō|t=to cover, keep off]] and [[grc|τέγος|tr=tégos|t=roof]], [[lt|stógas|t=roof]], [[sga|teg|t=house]] and [[goh|dah|t=roof]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Italian [[tettoia]] continues a related Latin adjective, [[m|la|tēctōrius|t=serving to cover]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Sienese poet Ruggieri Apugliese, in the middle of the 13th century.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “the sloping covering of a building” to Dante's ''Commedia'' (1313–1319).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “house, home” is old: DELI records it before 1347, in Bartolomeo da San Concordio, with the old plural ''tettora''.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian already had ''sotto il tetto di qualcuno'' “in someone's house” and ''sotto un tetto'' “in the same place”, and the Gospel phrase ''predicare sopra i tetti'' “to proclaim from the rooftops”.^(TLIO)

+

+ Wider senses followed: any covering (15th century), the rock above a layer or deposit in geology (1891), and an overhang in climbing (1953).^(DELI 1999) In the 16th century Varchi used ''tetto'' for the sloping board from which the ball was served in a ball game.^(DEI|3781)^(Prati 1951|990) The figurative sense “upper limit” on spending, prices or inflation is modern.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-13th century – Ruggieri Apugliese uses ''tetto''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for the roof of a building.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses it for “house”, with the plural ''tettora''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 15th century – The sense “covering” is recorded in sailing manuals.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – The geological sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1953 – The climbing sense “overhang” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|roof|alt=Roof]], the covering of a building, usually of sloping surfaces of tiles or similar on a frame of beams: ''Il vento ha portato via metà del tetto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(by extension)'' House, home: ''abbandono del tetto coniugale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # The roof or top of a vehicle or other structure.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|ceiling|alt=Ceiling]], [[m|en|cap]]: an upper limit on spending, prices or similar.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mountaineering)'' An [[m|en|overhang]] of rock at nearly a right angle to the face.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(geology)'' The upper surface of a layer of rock; the rock lying above a deposit.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tettoia]]

+ * [[tettuccio]]

+ * [[tettino]]

+ * [[sottotetto]]

+ * [[senzatetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tegola]]

+ * [[toga]]

+ * [[la|tectum]]

+ * [[fr|toit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''senza tetto'' “homeless”, ''sotto lo stesso tetto'' “under the same roof” and ''gridare dai tetti'' “to tell everyone”;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''ci sono i tetti bassi'' warns that children are listening.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) A separate interjection ''tetto!'' “stop, don't touch!”, said to children around Pisa, Livorno and Lucca, is recorded by Fanfani in 1863.^(DEI|3843)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}