tristizia

Italian

Alternative forms

• trestizia (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin trīstitia, derived from trīstis (“sad”). Doublet of tristezza, the inherited counterpart.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /triˈstit.t͡sja/
• Rhymes: -ittsja
• Hyphenation: tri‧stì‧zia

Noun

tristizia f (plural tristizie)

1. (archaic) Synonym of tristezza (“sadness”)
   • mid 1300s–mid 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XXIX”, in Inferno [Hell]‎^[1], lines 58–62; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Non credo ch'a veder maggior tristizia
     fosse in Egina il popol tutto infermo,
     quando fu l'aere sì pien di malizia,
     che li animali, infino al picciol vermo,
     cascaron tutti […]

     I do not think a greater sadness ⁠was in Aegina the whole people sick, when was the air so full of pestilence, the animals, down to the little worm, all fell

2. (literary) wickedness, evil

   Synonyms: cattiveria, malvagità

3. (literary, archaic) misdeed, evil deed

Related terms

• tristo

Further reading

• tristizia in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana