Wiktionary

gazzetta

English

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Etymology

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From Italian gazzetta. Doublet of gazette.

Noun

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gazzetta (plural gazzettas or gazzette)

  1. (historical) An old Venetian coin, equal to a halfpenny.

Italian

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Etymology

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Borrowed in the 17th century from Venetan gazeta (“newspaper”), from gazeta dele novità (literally “a gazeta (halfpenny) of news”), named for the cost (one gazeta) of the newspaper.

The etymology of the coin’s name is disputed.[1] Most likely, it is from Venetan garzia (1518), variant of carzie (“a coin of little value”) (dialectal Greek χαρξια (charxia)), ultimately from Ancient Greek χαλκός (khalkós, “copper, copper alloy”), itself probably ultimately a borrowing.

Traditionally it is usually considered a diminutive of Latin gāza (“treasure”) (as in Medieval Latin gazetum), from Ancient Greek γάζα (gáza), of Iranian origin, probably ultimately Old Median *ganǰam (“treasure”) (compare Persian گنج (ganj)).

An alternative explanation derives it from German Kreuzer (“a small coin with a cross”), due to a cross on one of the coin’s faces.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɡadˈd͡zet.ta/
  • Rhymes: -etta
  • Hyphenation: gaz‧zét‧ta

Noun

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gazzetta f (plural gazzette)

  1. gazette
  2. an old Venetian coin, equal to a halfpenny

Usage notes

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  • Capitalised/capitalized: any of several local newspapers.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Mario Infelise (2016) “The History of a word: Gazzetta / Gazette”, in Joad Raymond, Noah Moxham, editors, News Network in Early Modern Europe‎[1], Leiden Boston, Brill, →ISBN, archived from the original on 22 April 2017, pages 243–260
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