pessimo Italian · revision 38992

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la pessimus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɛs.si.mo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pessimo''' (feminine pessima, masculine plural pessimi, feminine plural pessime)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include ''pèsimo'', ''pèsscimo'' and ''pèximo''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|pessimus|t=worst, very bad]], the superlative used with [[m|la|malus|t=bad]] beside the comparative [[m|la|peior|t=worse]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012) In Italian it serves as the superlative of [[cattivo]], beside the regular [[cattivissimo]], as [[peggiore]] serves as its comparative.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The Latin word was also inherited in Old French and Old Occitan as [[fro|pesme]] and [[pro|pesme]];^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2876) [[es|pésimo]] is a learned borrowing like the Italian.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Nocentini traces the Latin superlative to a form [[m|la|*pedsomos]], from a root [[ine-pro|*ped-|t=to fall]] that also underlies [[m|la|peius|t=worse]].^(Nocentini 2010) The verb itself is lost in Latin, but its supine [[m|la|pessum]] survives in phrases meaning “to go to ruin” and “to ruin”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni's ''Vizi e virtudi'' (before 1292), where avarice is called ''pessimo Vizio'', “the worst vice”;^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Zingarelli dates the word to about 1261.^(Zingarelli 2010) The early uses are moral: utterly wicked, sinful.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Boccaccio speaks of a ''pessimo uomo'' who was taken for a saint after his death, and Dante calls Geryon ''la fiera pessima'', “the vilest beast”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) From moral wickedness the word spread to anything of very poor quality, very unpleasant or very unfavourable: food, weather, a deal, a mood.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Because the Latin form is already a superlative, ''più pessimo'' “more worst” is rare and literary.^(Zingarelli 2010) The derivatives ''pessimismo'' and ''pessimista'' did not come from the adjective directly: they reached Italian through [[fr|pessimisme]] (1759) and [[m|fr|pessimiste]] (1789), and are recorded in Italian from 1818 (''pessimista'') and the first half of the 19th century (''pessimismo'').^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1261 – First record according to Zingarelli.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''pessimo'' of avarice.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1818 – ''Pessimista'' is recorded in a Milanese periodical.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1826 – Nocentini's date for ''pessimismo''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|very bad]], the worst, morally wicked or untrustworthy: ''Quel ragazzo frequenta pessime compagnie.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Very bad at one's job or role, [[m|en|incompetent]]: ''È un pessimo cuoco ma un ottimo amico.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Of very poor quality, worthless: ''una birra pessima''; of a language, badly spoken.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Very unpleasant to the taste or smell, [[m|en|disgusting]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Working very badly: ''Ho una pessima memoria per i nomi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Very unfavourable, [[m|en|dreadful]]: ''essere di pessimo umore'', to be in a foul mood; of weather, very bad.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pessimamente]]

+ * [[pessimismo]]

+ * [[pessimista]]

+ * [[pessimistico]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[peggiore]]

+ * [[peggio]]

+ * [[cattivo]]

+ * [[ottimo]]

+ * [[la|pessimus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}