centinaio Italian · revision 39142

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1207–1208, Venetian pact with Aleppo|origins=la centum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡ʃen.tiˈna.jo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''centinaio''' ''m'' (plural centinaia f)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|centenaio]], [[m|roa-oit|centonaio]], [[m|roa-oit|centinaro]] and [[m|roa-oit|centener]].^(TLIO)^(DEI|855) The plural is feminine, ''centinaia''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|centēnārius|t=containing a hundred]], used as a noun in the neuter.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) In Late Latin the neuter noun meant a weight of a hundred pounds.^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(DEI|855) The adjective comes from [[m|la|centēnus|t=a hundred each]], from [[m|la|centum|t=hundred]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The same word gave [[fro|centenier]], from which [[de|Zentner|t=hundredweight]] comes, and the old weight sense survives in Valmaggia as [[lmo|santunè]], a weight and a scale.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|855)^(REW 1935) The Venetian and Veronese forms are [[vec|centener]] and [[vec|zentenàro]].^(LEI|13, 853) Through [[grc|κεντηνάριον|tr=kentēnárion]], a Byzantine form, the word reached Arabic, which gave [[cantaro]] and [[quintale]].^(DEI|855) The Italian word is the popular form; the learned form of the same Latin word is [[centenario]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(LEI|13, 853)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest record in the TLIO is the Venetian pact with Aleppo of 1207–1208, where it is a unit of weight.^(TLIO) For a group of a hundred the first record is a Sienese tax register of 1231–1232.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used the word for a hundred years: Dante's ''Vita Nuova'' (c. 1292–1293) speaks of the ''centinaio'' in which Beatrice was placed in the world.^(LEI|13, 853)^(GRADIT 2003) The phrase ''per centinaio'' gave rates and taxes per hundred, as in Boccaccio's ''a ragion di trenta per centinaio'' (“at the rate of thirty in the hundred”).^(TLIO)^(GDLI) Giovanni Villani counts ''diciotto centinaia di cavalieri'', eighteen hundred knights.^(GDLI)

+

+ The weight unit lasted into modern times: German borrowed it as ''Centinajo'' (1879) for an old Italian weight of 35 to 48 kilograms.^(DIFIT) Today the word mostly gives a round or approximate number, and in the plural a great quantity (''centinaia di volte'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1207–1208 – The Venetian pact with Aleppo uses the word for a unit of weight.^(TLIO)

+ * 1231–1232 – A Sienese register uses it for a group of a hundred.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1292–1293 – Dante's ''Vita Nuova'' uses it for a century.^(LEI|13, 853)

+ * c. 1370 – Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' has ''per centinaio'' “per cent”.^(LEI|13, 853)

+ * 1879 – German ''Centinajo'' is recorded for an old Italian weight.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|hundred]], or about a hundred: ''un centinaio di invitati''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(plural)'' Hundreds, a great number: ''Ho centinaia di email da leggere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The hundreds place in the decimal system.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[m|en|century]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cento]]

+ * [[centenario]]

+ * [[quintale]]

+ * [[la|centēnārius]]

+ * [[la|centum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A centinaia'' means “in great numbers”, and ''centinaia e centinaia'' “very many”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}