bellezza Italian · revision 38900

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /belˈlet.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bellezza''' ''f'' (plural bellezze)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian has many spellings, such as ''beleza'', ''belleça'', ''bellessa'' and ''bellecza''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*bellitia]], from [[la|bellus|t=pretty, fine]] with the abstract suffix [[m|la|-itia]]; by surface analysis it is [[bello]] with the suffix [[-ezza]].^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|479) DEI notes that the Vulgar Latin noun belongs to Italy, where the dialects have it widely; [[es|belleza]] and [[pt|beleza]] came from Italian, while the older Italian synonym [[beltà]] was imported.^(DEI|479) GRADIT, Sabatini–Coletti and the TLIO describe it simply as a derivative of the adjective.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, in the sense “the quality of being beautiful”; the TLIO's first is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum'' of the late 12th century.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word covered beauty of things and people, an ornament, the elegance of speech, and inner, moral beauty; it could also name a beautiful woman.^(TLIO) Petrarch used ''bellezza'' for a beautiful person (1374), a use the 19th-century purists disputed.^(DELI 1999) The sense “a large amount”, as in ''la bellezza di cento lire'', appears in the 19th century;^(DEI|479) DEI compares French ''cent belles livres''.^(DEI|479)

+

+ ''Bellezza dell'asino'', “the donkey's beauty”, the freshness of youth alone, is a popular reinterpretation of French ''beauté de l'âge'', “the beauty of one's age”.^(DEI|479)^(Treccani 2011) ''Istituto di bellezza'', a beauty salon (1965), copies French ''institut de beauté'', and ''morire in bellezza'' copies ''mourir en beauté''.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''bellezza''.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1374 – Petrarch uses it for a beautiful person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – DEI records the sense “ornament, jewel”.^(DEI|479)

+ * 19th century – ''La bellezza di'' “as much as” and ''bellezza dell'asino'' appear.^(DEI|479)

+ * 1965 – ''Istituto di bellezza'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|beauty]], the quality of what is beautiful: ''la bellezza del paesaggio toscano''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Moral beauty, nobility: ''la bellezza di un gesto generoso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A beautiful person or thing; also an affectionate or ironic form of address: ''Ciao, bellezza!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(plural)'' The beautiful features of a place: ''le bellezze naturali''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # In exclamations of joy: ''Che bellezza!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''la bellezza di'': as much as, as long as (stressing a large amount): ''Abbiamo aspettato la bellezza di tre ore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imbellezzire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bello]]

+ * [[beltà]]

+ * [[la|bellus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Set phrases include ''finire in bellezza'' “to end on a high note”, ''concorso di bellezza'' “beauty contest” and ''istituto di bellezza'' “beauty salon”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) In Genoa ''bellezze di Genova'' was an 18th-century name for the Jerusalem cherry, ''Solanum pseudocapsicum''.^(DEI|479)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}