geloso Italian · revision 39026

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=grc ζῆλος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /d͡ʒeˈlo.zo/, /d͡ʒeˈlo.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''geloso''' (feminine gelosa, masculine plural gelosi, feminine plural gelose, superlative gelosissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|zeloso]], [[m|roa-oit|çeloso]], [[m|roa-oit|celoso]] and [[m|roa-oit|giloso]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|zēlōsus|t=full of zeal]], a word of the Church built on [[m|la|zēlus|t=zeal, ardour; rivalry, jealousy]], which comes from [[grc|ζῆλος|tr=zêlos|t=zeal, jealousy]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DELI regards the Latin adjective as a late, learned adaptation of the biblical [[m|la|zēlōtēs]] and [[m|la|zēlotypus]], though it is recorded from the 5th–6th century with the sense “full of zealous love”.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini starts from [[la-vul|*zelōsus]] “envious, possessive”, which took the meaning of the Church word for a God who will not allow anything to be loved more than him.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The same word is [[pro|gelos]], the source of [[fr|jaloux]], and [[ca|zelos]], [[es|celoso]] and [[pt|zeloso]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DELI thinks the word left the language of the Church for worldly love perhaps in Provence, among the troubadours.^(DELI 1999) Devoto explains the initial ⟨g⟩ by a northern tradition with ⟨z⟩, wrongly made Tuscan by putting ⟨ge⟩ for ⟨ze⟩; the older [[roa-oit|zeloso]] is the form Devoto–Oli start from.^(Devoto 1968)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The 18th-century scholar Salvini already found it curious that people derived [[gelosia]] from [[gelo]] “frost”, as if it were a chilly fear, when it plainly came from [[zelo]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, for one who feels jealousy in love, and the word was frequent in the same century.^(DELI 1999) His line runs: “Geloso son… ché teme no la perda per ventura” (“I am jealous… for one fears to lose it by chance”).^(GDLI|6, 634) The TLIO's first record is Patecchio's ''Frotula'' (13th century, Cremona), where Salimbene quotes the line “Et homo k'è zeloso andar a ballo” with the old sense “eager”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the word for one who guards something with anxious care (Guittone, before 1294), for animals, and for God, who loves and wants to be loved exclusively.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Boccaccio describes a husband so jealous that he feared the very air.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “envious, resentful of a rival's success” is recorded about 1579 in Tasso.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The derived noun [[gelosia]] also came to mean a slatted window shutter, through which the women of the house could look out without being seen, a screen placed by a jealous husband or father.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) ''Zelosie'' are recorded at Ferrara about 1470, and in 1494 Luca Pacioli named a method of multiplication ''per gelosia'' after the lattice it draws.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In sailors' language a ''geloso'' ship is one that heels over easily in wind or sea.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1779) The word was borrowed into as [[ro|gelos]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''geloso'' and ''gelosia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Patecchio of Cremona has ''zeloso'' “eager”.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone uses it for “careful, watchful”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1470 – ''Zelosie'' “lattices” are recorded at Ferrara.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1494 – Pacioli describes multiplication ''per gelosia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1579 – Tasso uses it for “envious”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1614 – A nautical use for an unsteady vessel is recorded.^(DEI|1779)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|jealous]]: suffering from jealousy towards a loved one; followed by ''di'' it names either the loved one or the rival: ''È geloso perfino dei colleghi della moglie.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of a feeling, look or behaviour, showing jealousy: ''un'occhiata gelosa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[invidioso|alt=Envious]], resentful of another's success: ''Era geloso dei voti del fratello.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Guarding something with great, often excessive care, followed by ''di'': ''È geloso della sua collezione di dischi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a thing, needing to be kept with great care or [[riservatezza|alt=discretion]]: ''un segreto geloso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(nautical)'' Of a ship, especially a sailing ship, that heels easily under wind or sea.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A jealous person: ''fare il geloso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gelosamente]]

+ * [[gelosia]]

+ * [[ingelosire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[zelo]]

+ * [[zelante]]

+ * [[la|zelus]]

+ * [[fr|jaloux]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The TLIO also has a rare Old Italian ''geloso'' meaning “frozen”, formed from [[gelo]], in Guinizzelli (before 1276).^(TLIO) Both /ʒeˈlo.zo/ with a voiced /z/ and /d͡ʒeˈlo.so/ with a voiceless /s/ are heard.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}