città
/tʃitˈta/
noun
Origin
Latin
cīvitās — citizenship, community of citizens, city-state
Overview
Meaning Now
- A city; a large human settlement.
Literal older meaning
state or condition of being a citizen
Language path
Latin → Old Italian → Italian
Earliest form
cittade
Earliest period
13th century
Journey
The term evolves from the Latin 'civitas', which originally referred to the legal concept of citizenship rather than the physical urban infrastructure. Over time, particularly in the Roman context, it shifted to describe the urban center where such citizens resided.
Evolution
- Latin
cīvitātem
“citizenship or city”
Accusative case of cīvitās.
- Old Italian
cittade
“city”
- Modern Italian
città
“city”
Final consonant loss and accent stabilization.
Connections
Word parts
città
root
city
Related across languages
French
cité
city
Spanish
ciudad
city
Portuguese
cidade
city
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Related to città
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.