meschino
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Arabic مِسْكِين (miskīn) from Aramaic מסכנא (meskēnā), derived from Akkadian 𒈦𒆕𒂗 (muškēnum, “villein, indigent; class of people dependent or reliant on others, unable to provide supplies on their own; commoner”). The Akkadian term is first recorded in early dynastic Sumer. Compare French mesquin, Portuguese mesquinho, Sicilian mischinu, Spanish mezquino.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
meschino (feminine meschina, masculine plural meschini, feminine plural meschine)
- (literary) unfortunate, unlucky
- Synonyms: disgraziato, infelice, sfortunato, sventurato, (literary) tapino
- Antonyms: felice, fortunato
- (obsolete) servile, servantlike
- inadequate, insufficient, meager, measly
- Synonyms: inadeguato, insufficiente, miserabile, misero, povero
- Antonyms: adeguato, congruo, dignitoso, giusto
- (uncommon) frail, weakly (of a person's body)
- (derogatory) petty, narrow-minded; wretched
- poor (used to express commiseration in Liguria)
Derived terms edit
Noun edit
meschino m (plural meschini)
- (literary) an unfortunate or unlucky person
- (obsolete) servant, subordinate
- Synonyms: servo, sottoposto
- wretch
Further reading edit
- meschino in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana