regno Italian · revision 39049

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th or 13th century, Ritmo laurenziano|origins=la rex}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈreɲ.ɲo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''regno''' ''m'' (plural regni, diminutive regnétto)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|renno]], [[m|roa-oit|regnio]] and [[m|roa-oit|rennio]].^(GDLI) Besides ''regni'' the old plural could be ''regna'' or ''regnora'' (feminine).^(GDLI)^(DEI|3224)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|rēgnum|t=kingship, reign, kingdom]], a learned word.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|3224)^(Prati 1951|831) The Latin noun is formed from the stem of [[m|la|rēx|t=king]] with the suffix [[m|la|-nus]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) Wiktionary explains it as the neuter of an adjective [[m|la|*rēgnus]].^(Wiktionary) DELI treats the word under its entry for [[re]] “king”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word is found across the western Romance languages: Old Sardinian [[m|sc|rennu]], Old French [[m|fro|renne]] and modern [[fr|règne]], Old Occitan [[m|pro|renh]] or [[m|pro|reine]], [[es|reino]] and [[pt|reino]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3224) Meyer-Lübke explains the ⟨i⟩ of the Spanish and Portuguese forms as the learned ⟨gn⟩ resolved to ⟨in⟩.^(REW 1935) DEI, Nocentini and the GDLI all treat the Italian word as learned.^(DEI|3224)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Ritmo laurenziano'' (late 12th or early 13th century), then Giacomino Pugliese in the first half of the 13th century, for a state ruled by a king.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Giacomino praises the kingdom where his lady dwells, “the finest of all kingdoms”.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already Dante extended the word to the territory under a king's rule and to any place where someone or something holds sway: the ''secondo regno'' of the ''Purgatorio'' is the realm where the human spirit is purged.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In Italy ''il Regno'' long meant, without qualification, the Kingdom of Naples, the only kingdom in the peninsula; a poor horse could be mocked as a ''caval di Regno''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The sense “reign”, the rule of a king and its length, is dated by DELI only to 1802 (Monti).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In natural history the word names each of the great divisions of nature, animal, vegetable and mineral, and in modern biology the highest taxonomic category.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) Religious phrases such as ''regno dei cieli'' and ''regno di Dio'' remain common.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th or early 13th century – The ''Ritmo laurenziano'' has the first record.^(DELI 1999)

+ * First half of the 13th century – Giacomino Pugliese uses ''regno'' for a kingdom.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 13th century – The verb ''regnare'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for any place where someone holds sway.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the territory under a king.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1802 – Monti uses it for a king's rule and its duration.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|kingdom]]: a state ruled by a king or queen, and its territory: ''Il regno di Svezia ha una lunga storia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The rule of a sovereign, and the period it lasts; [[m|en|reign]]: ''Durante il suo regno furono costruite molte strade.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The power of a god, and the place over which it extends: ''il regno di Plutone''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A place or field in which someone or something dominates: ''La cucina è il regno di mia nonna.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(biology)'' Each of the great divisions of the natural world (animal, vegetable, mineral), and the highest category in the [[classificazione|alt=classification]] of living things.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(history)'' With a capital, the Kingdom of Naples, and later the Kingdom of Italy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[regnare]]

+ * [[regnante]]

+ * [[regnicolo]]

+ * [[interregno]]

+ * [[sottoregno]]

+ * [[superregno]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[re]]

+ * [[regale]]

+ * [[reggere]]

+ * [[regio]]

+ * [[reame]]

+ * [[la|regnum]]

+ * [[fr|règne]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Il Regno Unito'' is the United Kingdom, a translation of the English name.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''Il mio regno per un cavallo'', from Shakespeare's ''Richard III'', is said of someone ready to give anything for something they badly need.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}