quarantina (Italian)

Where does "quarantina" come from?

The Italian noun 'quarantina' evolved through the combination of the word 'quaranta' and the suffix '-ina'[1]. The root 'quaranta' derives from Late Latin 'quarranta', which traces back to Latin 'quadrāgintā'[2]. This Latin term ultimately stems from the Proto-Indo-European reconstructed form '*kʷetwr̥(d)ḱomt', meaning 'four-ten'[2], which itself combines '*kʷetwr̥-' meaning 'four' with '*déḱm̥' meaning 'ten'[4].

Open questions

• The Proto-Indo-European base for ten may possibly contain a component derived from a root meaning hand. [5]

Full etymology tree

• quarantina (Italian), 'approximately forty'
  • derived quaranta (Italian), 'forty'
    • inherited quarranta (Late Latin)
      • inherited quadraginta (Latin), 'forty; 40'
        • inherited *kʷétwr̥dḱomt (Proto-Indo-European), 'forty'
          • compound *kʷetwr̥- (Proto-Indo-European), 'four, fourfold'
          • compound *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'ten'
            • derived *ḱm̥t- (Proto-Indo-European)
              • derived *ḱómt (Proto-Indo-European)
  • suffix -ina (Italian), 'inflectional suffix used to form diminutives of feminine nouns'

Ancestors

• quaranta (Italian)
• -ina (Italian)

Sources

1. quarantina (Italian) - Wiktionary
2. quaranta (Italian) - Wiktionary
3. quadraginta (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. kʷétwr̥dḱomt (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
5. déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris