titolo Italian · revision 39012

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1304–1308, Dante|origins=la titulus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈti.to.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''titolo''' ''m'' (plural titoli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote [[m|roa-oit|tittolo]] and [[m|roa-oit|titulo]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|titulus|t=placard, inscription; title]], a learned word, though DELI notes popular reflexes and place names in Italy.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word first named the placard carried on a pole in triumphs, listing the prisoners and the towns taken, then a notice that a house was to let, an inscription or epitaph, the title of a book, an honorary title, and a pretext.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3805) Only some of these senses passed into Italian.^(DELI 1999) In Medieval Latin the word also meant a parish church, a use introduced by Gregory the Great for the churches of Rome.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Its origin is unknown.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DEI compares reduplicated words such as [[la|populus]] and thinks it probably a loan from a non-Indo-European language.^(DEI|3805) Wiktionary suggests Etruscan.^(Wiktionary) Devoto connected it with a root meaning “flat board”.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The same learned word is [[fr|titre]] and [[es|título]], and it was borrowed into [[sga|titul]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3805) From the sense “sign, mark” come [[es|tilde]], the stroke over a letter, and, according to Nocentini, Italian [[tirchio]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DELI suspects that some Italian phrases with the word echo French ones of the 17th century, such as [[fr|à juste titre]] and [[m|fr|à titre gratuit]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI and GRADIT date the word to Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308), in the sense “name, appellation”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The GDLI quotes it earlier in Brunetto Latini's ''Rettorica'', where the author asks what title the book has.^(GDLI) In the ''Inferno'' Ugolino's tower is the prison that “because of me has the title of hunger” (''la qual per me ha 'l titol de la fame'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Boccaccio (1348–1353) has the title of a writing, the name of a rank or dignity, and a right earned by merit; he says that he wrote his tales without titles.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) ''Titolato'' “titled, noble” follows before 1363.^(DELI 1999) In finance the word came to mean a bond or security: DEI records ''titolo'' for a certificate of debt in 1877 and for a paper representing a value in 1890.^(DEI|3805)

+

+ The technical sense “fineness of a metal” came from French: Genovesi (before 1769) noted that the French call it ''titre'', and Carena (1853) still treated it as new.^(DELI 1999) Petrocchi (1891) records the proportion of a component in a mixture, the count of a yarn and a mocking or insulting epithet.^(DELI 1999) A newspaper headline is a ''titolo'' from 1961, and in sports the word names a championship title.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''titolo'' for a name or appellation.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for the title of a writing and for a rank.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses ''titolato'' “titled”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1769 – Genovesi describes the fineness of gold, called ''titre'' in French.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1877 – ''Titolo'' is recorded for a certificate of debt.^(DEI|3805)

+ * 1891 – Petrocchi records the senses “epithet”, “proportion in a mixture” and “yarn count”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1961 – The sense “newspaper headline” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|title]] of a book, film, work of art and the like, or the heading of a chapter or section: ''Non ricordo il titolo di quella canzone.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|headline]] in a newspaper: ''Il giornale apre con un titolo a tutta pagina.''^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A book, as an item in a catalogue: ''La biblioteca ha più di diecimila titoli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A title of rank, office or qualification: ''il titolo di barone'', ''il titolo di avvocato'', ''titolo di studio'', an educational qualification.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(sports)'' The title of champion: ''La squadra lotta per il titolo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' The ground or right that justifies a claim: ''Non ha alcun titolo per chiedere quei soldi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(finance)'' A [[m|en|security]], bond or share: ''titoli di Stato''.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(chemistry, metallurgy)'' The concentration of a solution, the [[m|en|titre]], or the fineness of a metal alloy.^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(textiles)'' The count of a yarn.^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[titolare]]

+ * [[titolato]]

+ * [[titolista]]

+ * [[titolone]]

+ * [[titolazione]]

+ * [[intitolare]]

+ * [[sottotitolo]]

+ * [[soprattitolo]]

+ * [[contitolare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tirchio]]

+ * [[tilde]]

+ * [[la|titulus]]

+ * [[fr|titre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A titolo di'' means “by way of, as”: ''a titolo gratuito'' “free of charge”, ''a titolo personale'' “in a personal capacity”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) The ''titoli di testa'' and ''titoli di coda'' are the opening and closing credits of a film.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) DEI records an obsolete ''titolo'' “shriek, shrill cry” in Varchi (16th century).^(DEI|3787)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}