disastro Italian · revision 39081

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=late 13th century, Libro dei Sette Savi|origins=grc ἄστρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /diˈzas.tro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''disastro''' ''m'' (plural disastri)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|desastro]], [[m|roa-oit|dexastro]] and [[m|roa-oit|desastre]], and Old Sicilian [[m|scn|disastru]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|dis-|astro]], formed with the prefix in a pejorative sense, so that the word first meant “ill star, adverse fate”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020) Sabatini–Coletti and the GDLI trace it to the language of [[astrologia|alt=astrology]]: a disaster was something that happened under an unlucky star.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) [[astro|alt=Astro]] is a learned word from [[la|astrum|t=star]], which Latin took from [[grc|ἄστρον|tr=ástron]].^(LEI|3, 1984)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Nocentini calls it an Italian formation: [[pro|dezastre]] was formed in parallel and passed into [[es|desastre]], while [[fr|désastre]] comes from Italian.^(Nocentini 2010) The LEI dates the French word from 1535, DIFIT from 1537 and DEI from 1544, and DIFIT notes the influence of the French prefix [[m|fr|dés-]].^(LEI|3, 1984)^(DIFIT)^(DEI|1325) Meyer-Lübke also lists Old Occitan [[m|pro|malastre|t=misfortune]], beside which [[m|pro|benastre|t=good fortune]] was formed by misreading the prefix.^(REW 1935) The English word [[m|en|disaster]], recorded from the 1590s, came through French.^(Etymonline)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Tuscan ''Libro dei Sette Savi'' of the late 13th century, where it means a misfortune or adversity.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “misfortune of great proportions” to the 14th-century translation of Livy, where the LEI reads it as a heavy defeat of an army.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|3, 1984)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word covered any turn for the worse, an individual's bad luck, a hardship and an unexpected event.^(TLIO) By the 15th century Giovanni Morelli used it for heavy, irreparable damage.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The modern sense of a natural catastrophe or an accident with many victims is recorded from 1567, and Giovanni Botero wrote of public disasters as the best occasion for a prince to win his subjects' hearts.^(LEI|3, 1984)^(GDLI)

+

+ From this the colloquial uses developed: a mess, a complete failure, and a person who causes trouble or is full of faults.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The derivatives followed: ''disastroso'' in the 14th century (as Sicilian ''desastruso'') and the 16th, ''disastrare'' and ''disastrato'' in the 17th.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Libro dei Sette Savi'' has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * 14th century – The Italian Livy uses it for a disastrous defeat.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|3, 1984)

+ * Before 1444 – Giovanni Morelli uses it for serious, irreparable damage.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1535 – French ''désastre'' is recorded, borrowed from Italian.^(LEI|3, 1984)

+ * 1567 – ''Disastro'' is recorded for a large-scale catastrophe.^(LEI|3, 1984)

+ * 1590s – English ''disaster'' appears, from French.^(Etymonline)

+ * Before 1647 – Giovanni Battista Doni uses the verb ''disastrare''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|disaster]], a [[catastrofe|alt=catastrophe]] that destroys property or lives: ''Dopo l'alluvione il governo ha dichiarato lo stato di disastro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Serious, irreparable damage or ruin: ''La siccità è stata un disastro per i contadini.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A serious [[incidente|alt=accident]] with many victims, especially in transport: ''un disastro aereo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(law)'' An offence that endangers the safety of public transport.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A mess, great disorder: ''Dopo la festa la cucina era un disastro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A complete failure, a [[fiasco]]: ''La gita è stata un disastro dall'inizio alla fine.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A person who causes trouble or is hopelessly inept: ''In matematica sono sempre stato un disastro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[disastroso]]

+ * [[disastrato]]

+ * [[disastrare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[astro]]

+ * [[astrologia]]

+ * [[fr|désastre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A ''disastro ecologico'' is a grave upset of the environment.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Zingarelli distinguishes ''disastro'', a calamity with grave damage, from [[disgrazia]], which suggests that ill fortune caused it.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}