niente
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
English niente
Pronunciation
Adverb
niente (not comparable)
- (music) totally silent, as a musical direction (abbreviated to n. or ∅ in sheet music)
- Synonym: al niente
Dutch
Etymology
From Italian niente (“nothing”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ni.ɛntə/
Audio: (file)
Pronoun
niente
- (colloquial) nothing
- (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
Italian
Etymology
From an earlier neente, either from Latin ne gentem (“no person, no one”),[1] nec entem, ne entem[2][3], or ne inde.[4] Compare Old Catalan nient,[5] Sicilian nenti, Piedmontese gnente, Occitan neient,[6] French néant.
The regional pronunciation with initial self-gemination of /nj-/ is by speakers who try to correct the /ɲ-/ because of the orthography, but keep the syllable structure, and thus gemination, of the original /ɲ-/.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈnjɛn.te/
Audio: (file)
- (regional) IPA(key): */ˈɲɛn.te/, */ˈnjɛn.te/
- Rhymes: -ɛnte
- Hyphenation: nièn‧te
Pronoun
niente
- nothing
- Synonym: nulla
- Cosa fai? Niente. ― What are you doing? Nothing.
- anything
- Synonym: nulla
- Hai bisogno di niente? ― Do you need anything?
- Non voglio niente da mangiare. ― I don't want anything to eat.
Determiner
niente (invariable)
Adverb
niente
Noun
niente m (invariable)
Derived terms
- annientare
- nient'affatto/niente affatto
- niente di niente
- per niente
- dolce far niente
References
- ^ niènte in sapere.it – De Agostini Editore
- ^ Pianigiani, Ottorino (1907), “niente”, in Vocabolario etimologico della lingua italiana (in Italian), Rome: Albrighi & Segati
- ^ niente in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
- ^ niente in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
- ^ Old Catalan up to the 1800s; this context is no longer in modern usage. Should this be listed as Old Occitan? Per Pere Casanellas's Bible Translation by Jews and Christians in Medieval Catalan-Speaking Territories (listed as the word for modern Catalan's no res) and Frederic Mistral's Tresor dóu Felibrige dictionary (listed as the Catalan cognate to Occitan neient).
- ^ Neient, nient or neant, according to the Dicod'òc multidictionary tool by Lo Congrès permanent de la lenga occitana (The Permanent Congress of the Occitan Language)