metà Italian · revision 38995

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1193, Carta picena|origins=la medius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /meˈta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ Old forms are [[roa-oit|mitade]], [[roa-oit|midate]], [[roa-oit|mitate]], [[roa-oit|metade]], [[roa-oit|metate]] and [[roa-oit|meità]];^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2440)^(GDLI|10, 241)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) ''mità'' is also Umbrian.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2440)^(GDLI|10, 241)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|medietās|t=the middle; half]], from the accusative [[m|la|medietās|alt=medietātem]], with the middle syllable dropped and the ending ⟨-tem⟩ lost.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|10, 241) The Latin noun was formed on [[m|la|medius|t=middle]] with the suffix [[m|la|-tās]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) According to Migliorini, quoted by DELI, Cicero coined it as a translation of [[grc|μεσότης|tr=mesótēs|t=mean, middle]] in his translation of Plato's Timaeus, where he says he hardly dares to use the word.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|moitié]], [[oc|meitat]], [[ca|meitat]] and [[es|mitad]].^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary calls [[medietà]] a learned doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Latin adjective goes back to [[itc-pro|*meðios]] and [[ine-pro|*médʰyos]], and is related to [[grc|μέσος|tr=mésos]], [[sa|मध्य|tr=mádhya]] and [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃|tr=midjis]], all meaning “middle”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the ''Carta picena'' of 1193, a document from the Marche, in the form ''mitade'': it rules what happens if Plandeo cannot repay twenty pounds “e la mitade de lo prode”, “and half of the profit”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|10, 241) The form ''metà'' appears in the 13th century, in the chronicle of Ricordano and Giacotto Malispini.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside “half”, Old Italian used the word for the middle point of something (''midate'' in the 13th-century ''Storia de Troia e de Roma'', ''metà'' in the 15th century, in Cennino Cennini).^(DELI 1999) The full form ''metade'' stayed in poetry and old prose, and Berni struck out the ''mitate'' of Boiardo as a northern form.^(DEI|2440)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ A figurative use for a person who forms almost one soul with another is recorded as ''mitate'' in 1510 and as ''metà'' before 1547, in Bembo; the joking ''la mia metà'' “my wife” or “my husband” is in Tommaseo's dictionary of 1869, and DEI compares French ''ma moitié''.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2440) ''L'altra metà del cielo'', “the other half of the sky”, a slogan of the 1970s, stands for women.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Common phrases are ''a metà'' “halfway, unfinished”, ''fare a metà'' “to go halves” and the proverb ''chi ben comincia è a metà dell'opera'' “well begun is half done”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) German borrowed the word in ''Metageschäft'' (1876, as ''Metà''), a business deal whose gains and losses were shared between the partners.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1193 – The ''Carta picena'' has ''mitade'' “half”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – The form ''metà'' appears in the Malispini chronicle.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – ''Midate'' is used for the middle point of something.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1547 – Bembo uses ''metà'' for a person's other half.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo records ''metà'' for one spouse in relation to the other.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1876 – German ''Metà'' (later ''Metageschäft'') is recorded in trade.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|half]], one of the two equal parts of a whole: ''Ha lasciato metà della pizza nel piatto.'' Also used before a noun like an adjective: ''metà prezzo'', “half price”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|middle]], the midpoint of a space or a period: ''Partiamo a metà agosto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(jocular)'' One's [[m|en|spouse]] or partner, one's “other half”: ''Stasera viene anche la mia metà.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''A metà'': halfway, or left unfinished, ''fare a metà'': to split something equally with someone, ''per metà'': in two equal parts, or only in part.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metadella]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mezzo]]

+ * [[medietà]]

+ * [[medio]]

+ * [[la|medius]]

+ * [[fr|moitié]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Metà'' is invariable: ''le due metà'' “the two halves”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) It often stands without the article and the preposition ''di'' before a noun (''metà strada'', ''metà libro'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}