canutezza

Italian

Etymology

canuto (“hoary”) +‎ -ezza (“-ity, -ness”, abstract noun suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.nuˈtet.t͡sa/
• Rhymes: -ettsa
• Hyphenation: ca‧nu‧téz‧za

Noun

canutezza f (plural canutezze) (uncommon)

1. hoariness

   Synonym: canizie

   • 1350s, anonymous author, “Como frate Venturino venne a Roma colle palommelle e dello campanile de Santo Pietro lo quale fu arzo. [About how fra Venturino came to Rome with doves, and about the bell tower of St. Peter that was burned down]” (chapter 6), in Cronica [Chronicle]‎ (overall work in Old Italian); republished as Giuseppe Porta, editor, Anonimo romano - Cronica, Adelphi, 1979, →ISBN:

     Spesso diceva ca quella canutezza fu per paura che abbe (Romanesco)

     He often said that that hoariness came out of the fear he felt

2. (figurative) old age

References

• canutezza in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• “canutezza”, in Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, volume 2 balc–cerr, UTET, 1962, page 667