esterno Italian · revision 39150

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=early 14th century, Italian translation of Cicero|origins=la ex}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /esˈtɛr.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''esterno''' (feminine esterna, masculine plural esterni, feminine plural esterne)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|externus|t=outward, external; foreign]], from [[m|la|exter|t=on the outside]] (also [[m|la|exterus]]).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The adjective is formed from [[m|la|ex|t=out of]] with the suffix [[m|la|-ter]], which marks a contrast between two.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968) Devoto compares the parallel sets [[m|la|internus]] and [[m|la|interior]], and [[m|la|infernus]] and [[m|la|inferus]].^(Devoto 1968) [[fr|externe]] (15th century) and [[es|externo]] are borrowed from Latin in the same way.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1548) Italian [[estero]] continues the shorter Latin adjective, and its comparative [[m|la|exterior]] gave [[esteriore]].^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records are in Italian translations of Latin authors of the early 14th century: a version of Cicero for the adjective “that is outside something”,^(DELI 1999) and the Florentine translation of Livy's third decade, where the TLIO finds the senses “lying outside” and “coming from outside”.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century the translation of Livy also used ''esterno'' as a noun for a foreigner, a sense that went out of use after the 18th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The noun “outer side or part” is in Giordano Bruno (before 1600).^(DELI 1999) The verb ''esternare'', to express what one feels or thinks, appeared in 1780 as a lawyers' neologism.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The schools of the 19th century gave ''esterno'' the sense of a pupil who attends a boarding school without living there (Tommaseo, 1869), and later of an external candidate who sits an exam at a school he has not attended.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Film made it the term for scenes shot outside the studio (''esterni'', 1914), and the theatre for a set showing an open place (1966).^(DELI 1999) In sport an ''esterno'' result is one obtained away from home, and the word names a wide player.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 14th century – An Italian translation of Cicero uses ''esterno''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The translation of Livy uses ''esterno'' “foreigner”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1600 – Giordano Bruno uses the noun for the outer side.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1780 – ''Esternare'' “to express” appears in legal language.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo records ''esterno'' for a day pupil.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1914 – ''Esterni'' are recorded for outdoor film scenes.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1966 – ''Esterno'' is recorded as a theatre set of an open place.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|external]], outer: that is or appears on the outside: ''La scala esterna porta al terrazzo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Coming from outside: ''pressioni esterne''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Lying towards the outside of something, farther from the centre: ''il lato esterno del piede''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Not a permanent part of an organization: ''un consulente esterno''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' Existing independently of the mind that knows it: ''il mondo esterno''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(geometry)'' Of an [[m|en|angle]] between one side of a polygon and the extension of the next.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sport)'' Played or won on the opponent's ground, [[m|en|away]]: ''una vittoria esterna''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Foreign.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The outside, the [[m|en|exterior]]: ''l'esterno della chiesa'', ''all'esterno'', outside.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A pupil who attends a boarding school without living there.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(cinema)'' In the plural, scenes shot outside the studio.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(sport)'' A player on the wing; in baseball, an [[m|en|outfielder]].^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[esternare]]

+ * [[esternazione]]

+ * [[esternamente]]

+ * [[esternato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[esteriore]]

+ * [[estero]]

+ * [[extra-]]

+ * [[fuori]]

+ * [[interno]]

+ * [[la|externus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An obsolete homograph ''esterno'' “of yesterday” (15th century) is a learned borrowing of Latin ''hesternus'', from ''heri'' “yesterday”;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|2, 588) Bembo and Buonarroti the Younger used it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|2, 588) The phrase ''per uso esterno'' marks a medicine for application to the body, not to be swallowed.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}