straniero Italian · revision 39352

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1303, Onesto da Bologna|origins=la extrā}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /straˈnjɛ.ro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''straniero''' (feminine straniera, masculine plural stranieri, feminine plural straniere)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms include ''straniere'', still recorded as archaic, and ''strainero'', ''stranero'', ''strangero'' and ''strangiero''.^(GDLI|20, 284)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|estrangier|t=foreigner]] and [[pro|estranger]], derivatives of [[m|fro|estrange|t=foreign, strange]] (modern [[fr|étranger]] and [[fr|étrange]]).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The French adjective continues [[la|extrāneus|t=external, foreign]], from [[m|la|extrā|t=outside]] and the suffix [[m|la|-āneus]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The French noun also gave [[es|extranjero]] and [[pt|estrangeiro]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI)

+

+ Wiktionary allows a direct derivation from the Latin adjective through an unrecorded [[la-vul|*extraneārius]], which Körting had reconstructed, but thinks the French model more likely.^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907) Treccani derives it from the Latin word and compares the French one.^(Treccani 2011) Devoto saw a crossing of the French word with the native [[stranio]].^(Devoto 1968) The same Latin adjective gave Italian [[strano]], and as a learned word [[estraneo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Onesto da Bologna, before 1303, uses the word in the sense “cruel”.^(DELI 1999) The sense “of foreign citizenship” is first recorded about 1350, in the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century the word meant a stranger in general, someone born elsewhere: an anonymous Genoese poet speaks of crowds of “foreign people”, and the translation of Cassian says “I am a stranger in the earth and a pilgrim”.^(GDLI|20, 284) It could also mean “far off”, “alien” or “strange”, senses that survive only in literature and the old language.^(DEI)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The sense “belonging to another nation”, of languages, customs and peoples, is recorded before 1595 in Torquato Tasso.^(DELI 1999) The word later took on the sense “enemy, foreign invader”, recorded in the Milanese press in 1814, and in the singular ''lo straniero'' became a collective name for the occupying power.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Leopardi's line ''quando la terra / mi fia straniera valle'' uses the literary sense “estranged, alien”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1303 – Onesto da Bologna uses ''straniero'' in the sense “cruel”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1350 – The translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi uses it of a person of foreign nationality.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1595 – Torquato Tasso uses it for “belonging to another nation”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1814 – The Milanese press uses it for a foreign enemy and invader.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|foreign]], of or from another country: ''Studia due lingue straniere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Relating to an enemy or occupying nation: ''le truppe straniere''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary)'' Alien, estranged, not one's own: ''sentirsi straniero a casa propria''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Strange, unusual.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|foreigner]], a citizen of another country: ''Molti stranieri vivono in questo quartiere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(singular, collective)'' The foreign enemy, the invader: ''resistere allo straniero''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[straniera]]

+ * [[stranierismo]]

+ * [[straniereggiare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[strano]]

+ * [[estraneo]]

+ * [[stranio]]

+ * [[fr|étranger]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The ''Legione straniera'' is the French Foreign Legion.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}