maestà Italian · revision 38943

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, Maestro Torrigiano|origins=la maior}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ma.esˈta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ Older forms are [[roa-oit|maiestà]], [[roa-oit|maiestade]] and [[roa-oit|maiestate]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) The GDLI also records ''magestà'' and ''magistà''.^(GDLI) In the dialects of Emilia and Piedmont the word became [[egl|mistà]], and further north [[lmo|maistà]], with the sense “holy image”.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|maiestās|t=greatness, dignity, sovereignty]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2309) The Latin noun is built on [[m|la|maior|t=greater]], as [[m|la|honestās|t=honour, respectability]] is on [[m|la|honor|t=honour]].^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan points out that it keeps the comparative suffix in the form *-jes-, the same that gave maior and [[m|la|magis|t=more]], from [[ine-pro|*mǵ-i(V)s-|t=greater]], a comparative of the word for “great”, [[m|la|magnus]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The same Latin word gave [[fr|majesté]], the source of [[en|majesty]], and [[es|majestad]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''maestate'' “imposing grandeur” in the 13th-century poet Maestro Torrigiano; the form ''maestà'' is in Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The title of kings and emperors, as ''maiestà'' and ''maiestade'', is in the 13th-century Lombard Uguccione da Lodi.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the word for God's majesty and for the image of the Trinity, Christ or the Virgin enthroned and seen from the front, recorded in 1313.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) This is the ''Maestà'' of Duccio, Cimabue and Giotto, a name borrowed by French and German art history.^(DIFIT)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In northern Italy and in Tuscan dialects ''maestà'' also came to mean a wayside shrine with a holy image, and Old Portuguese ''magestade'' had the same sense.^(DEI|2309)^(REW 1935)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ As a title it was used in the 14th century only for the emperor;^(DEI|2309) DEI says the title spread to other monarchs in the 16th century from the Spanish court, where the emperor was also king.^(DEI|2309) Boccaccio already wrote of the ''reale maestà'' about 1336.^(DELI 1999) The derivative ''maestoso'' is recorded from 1589, and DEI holds that French ''majestueux'' was modelled on it.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2309)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Maestro Torrigiano uses ''maestate'' for grandeur.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses ''maiestà'' as a title.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante writes ''maestà''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1313 – The word is used for an image of Christ or the Virgin enthroned.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * c. 1336 – Boccaccio writes of the ''reale maestà''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1589 – ''Maestoso'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|grandeur]], imposing solemnity that inspires awe: ''la maestà delle montagne''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Nobility of bearing, dignity: ''Camminava con grande maestà.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Often capitalised, the title of a king, queen or emperor ([[m|en|majesty]]): ''Sua Maestà la regina''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Often capitalised, an attribute of God: ''la Divina Maestà''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(art)'' A [[m|en|Maestà]], a painting of Christ or the Virgin enthroned and seen from the front: ''la Maestà di Duccio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(regional)'' A [[m|en|shrine]] or tabernacle with a holy image by a road.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' In ''in maestà'', of a figure shown full face.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maestoso]]

+ * [[maestosità]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[maggiore]]

+ * [[la|maiestas]]

+ * [[fr|majesté]]

+ * [[en|majesty]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Lesa maestà'' or ''delitto di lesa maestà'' was the crime against the sovereign or the state; figuratively it is an affront to a powerful person.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Giovanni Villani already wrote of the ''peccati della lesa maestade''.^(Prati 1951|614)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}