indiano Italian · revision 39071

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1336, Giovanni Boccaccio|origins=grc Ἰνδία}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /inˈdja.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''indiano''' (feminine indiana, masculine plural indiani, feminine plural indiane)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|indiānus|t=of India]], a learned word formed on [[la|India]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|2002) The Late Latin adjective took the place of older [[m|la|Indus]] according to DELI, of [[m|la|Indicus]] according to Nocentini and DEI.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2002) The name of the country is [[grc|Ἰνδία|tr=Indía]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2002) The same adjective is [[fr|indien]] and [[es|indiano]], and it spread to the other European languages.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The use of the word for the native peoples of America goes back to the error of Christopher Columbus, who believed he had reached India;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) America was long called the West Indies.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) A variant [[indiatico]], in a letter of Filippo Sassetti from 1585, is very probably [[pt|indiático]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Boccaccio (about 1336), meaning “of India”; he describes a figure dressed in cloth shining with Indian gold.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1495 Michele da Cuneo, who sailed with Columbus, uses the word for the natives of America, and the two senses have lived side by side since.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The idiom ''fare l'indiano'', “to play dumb”, comes from the European picture of the natives of the West Indies as dazed and absent; in 1583 Tommaso Garzoni already compares fools to men come from the Indies.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DEI dates the phrase to the 17th century, and Manzoni uses it in ''I promessi sposi''.^(DEI|2002)^(Prati 1951|555)

+

+ The feminine noun [[indiana]], a printed cotton cloth, is recorded in Francesco Redi in 1674 and comes from [[fr|indienne]] (1632).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In the 1970s the ''indiani metropolitani'' were a far-left protest movement whose members painted their faces like Native American warriors.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1336 – Boccaccio uses ''indiano'' “of India”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * About 1495 – Michele da Cuneo applies it to the natives of America.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1583 – Tommaso Garzoni attests the stereotype behind ''fare l'indiano''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1585 – Filippo Sassetti writes the variant ''indiatico''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1674 – Francesco Redi records ''indiane'' for printed cotton cloth.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1970s – The ''indiani metropolitani'' protest movement takes its name.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|Indian]]: of [[India]]: ''La cucina indiana usa molte spezie.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of the native peoples of the Americas, especially of North America: ''Visitammo un villaggio indiano nel Dakota.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of the [[Oceano Indiano|alt=Indian Ocean]] and its coasts.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''In fila indiana'': in [[m|en|single file]], one behind the other.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A native or inhabitant of India.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|Native American]], an American Indian; [[pellerossa]]: ''Da bambini giocavamo agli indiani in giardino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' The Indo-Aryan languages of India, from Vedic and Sanskrit to the modern languages: ''indiano antico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[indianista]]

+ * [[indianismo]]

+ * [[indianistica]]

+ * [[indianizzare]]

+ * [[indianeggiante]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[India]]

+ * [[indiana]]

+ * [[indaco]]

+ * [[indico]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fare l'indiano'' means to pretend not to know or not to understand something.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) Italian uses the same word for the people of India and for the native peoples of America;^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''amerindio'' and ''pellerossa'' name only the latter.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}