retro Italian · revision 38983

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=la re-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈrɛ.tro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''retro''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''dereto'', ''reto'', ''rieto'' and ''rietro''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|15, 934)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|retrō|t=backwards, behind]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Wiktionary treats it as inherited instead.^(Wiktionary) The Latin adverb is formed from the prefix [[m|la|re-|t=back]] and the adverbial suffix seen in [[m|la|intrō|t=inside]] and [[m|la|citrō|t=on this side]]; from about 300 it was also used as a preposition.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The popular outcome of the Latin word is [[fro|riere]], [[pro|reire]] and old Spanish [[m|es|riedro]]; in Italian the inherited form lives on in [[dietro]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) De Vaan accepts Klingenschmitt's derivation of the Latin prefix from [[ine-pro|*ure|t=back]] as the only acceptable etymology.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Forms with ''de'' come first: ''dereto'' in the inscription of San Clemente in Rome at the end of the 11th century and ''de retro'' in a Bolognese memorandum of 1282.^(DELI 1999) Dante uses ''retro'' for “behind” in the ''Commedia'' (1300–1313): ''pregando Stazio che venisse retro'' (“asking Statius to come behind”).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''retro'' was an adverb and, with ''a'' or ''di'', a preposition meaning “behind”;^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Dante also used it for “backwards”.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) By the 19th century the word was literary, and Tommaseo and Bellini found it alive mainly in compounds.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ As a noun, “the back part of something”, it appears in Carducci's “a c. 43 retro del codice” (1859), meaning the back of a leaf, and in the dictionaries from 1959.^(DELI 1999) It now names the back of a sheet, a coin or a building, and in colloquial speech it is short for ''retrobottega'' (the back shop) and, as a feminine noun, for ''retromarcia'' (reverse gear).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Latin ''vade retro, Satana'' is used jokingly to reject something unwelcome.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 11th century – ''Dereto'' appears in the inscription of San Clemente.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – ''De retro'' is recorded in a Bolognese memorandum.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''retro'' for “behind”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1859 – Carducci uses ''retro'' for the back of a manuscript leaf.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – The noun “back part” is recorded in a dictionary.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(literary)'' [[m|en|behind]], also ''a retro'' and ''di retro'', ''(rare)'' backwards.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The back of a sheet, page or envelope, the [[m|en|verso]]: ''Ha scritto l'indirizzo sul retro della cartolina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The [[m|en|reverse]] of a coin or medal.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The back of a building, opposite the front: ''Il garage è sul retro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The back room of a shop, short for [[retrobottega]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arretrare]]

+ * [[arretrato]]

+ * [[arretratezza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dietro]]

+ * [[retrobottega]]

+ * [[retromarcia]]

+ * [[retrogrado]]

+ * [[rétro]]

+ * [[la|retro]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Vedi retro'' (“see over”) tells the reader to turn the page, and ''fronte retro'' means “double-sided”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) As a feminine noun, ''la retro'' is colloquial for ''retromarcia''.^(GRADIT 2003) The adjective [[rétro]] “retro, old-fashioned” is a separate word, borrowed from French in 1980.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}