mezzedima

Italian

Alternative forms

• mezedima, mezidima, mezzerima (archaic)
• mezzesima, mezzelima (dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin media hebdomas (literally “half week”), compare Dalmatian misedma, Old High German mittawehha. By surface analysis, mezza +‎ edima.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /medˈd͡zɛ.di.ma/
• Rhymes: -ɛdima
• Hyphenation: mez‧zè‧di‧ma

Noun

mezzedima f (plural mezzedime) (archaic or Tuscan)

1. Wednesday

   Synonym: mercoledì

   • 1366, an Italian translation of an Arabic diploma from the Maghreb:

     فاإِسْكَرِطَ إِمِزِيدِمَ أَلدي ٣٠ دِلْمِيْسِ ادِكُرِيسَمَ إِن دِلَان سَطَ إِسِسَانْطَ أسَّطَ شِنْط

     fāʔiskiraṭa ʔimizīdima ʔaldī 30 dilmīsi ʔədikurīsama ʔin dilān saṭa ʔisisānṭa ʔassaṭa šinṭ

     /fu scritta mezzedima al dì 30 del mese di quaresima in dell'anno sette e sessanta e settecento/

     It was written on Wednesday, the day 30 of the month of Ramadan in the year seven hundred and sixty-seven.

References

• mezzedima in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• Accademia della Crusca (p. 1961), “mezzedima”, in Grande dizionario della lingua italiana (in Italian), volume 10, page 316
• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 331: “mercoledì” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it