Etymograph

English

morbidezza

Morbidezza comes from Italian morbidezza ‘softness, smoothness, tenderness, mellowness’, from Latin morbidum ‘sick’, and ultimately from morbus ‘disease, illness’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmorbus1‘disease, illness’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmorbidum1‘sick’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentmorbido2‘soft, tender, mellow’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentmorbidezza3‘softness, smoothness, tenderness, mellowness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1603morbidezza3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Italian morbido
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Italian morbidezza
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English morbidezza
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Yea, when we forge its image in hir excellencie,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmorbusWiktionary, Italian morbido‘disease, illness’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmorbidumWiktionary, Italian morbido‘sick’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentmorbidoWiktionary, Italian morbidezza‘soft, tender, mellow’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentmorbidezzaWiktionary, English morbidezza‘softness, smoothness, tenderness, mellowness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1603morbidezzaWiktionary, English morbidezza. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Yea, when we forge its image in hir excellencie,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

remember, march, murder, marine, nightmare, mere, maritime, marsh, mortality, mare, mortal, mara, mortar, muller, moor, mortuary, mort, ambrosia, morn, marinate, marinara, maar, moribund, cormorant, 61 more

Today it means

noun Softness, smoothness; also in a negative sense, weakness, effeminacy.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “morbidezza”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Italian morbido, Italian morbidezza. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin morbus / morbidezza

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