nonna

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian nonna. Doublet of nun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈnɔn(ː)ɐ], [ˈnɔn(ː)ə]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US also) IPA^(key): [ˈnoʊ̯nɐ]
• Rhymes: -ɔnə(ɹ), -əʊnə(ɹ)

Noun

nonna (plural nonnas)

1. (informal) A grandmother, especially one with Italian ancestry.
   • 2009 July 29, Alex Witchel, “Borscht: What Would Nana Say?”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     An article last month in The Daily News talked about Enoteca Maria, a restaurant in Staten Island that has no professional chef, just a rotating roster of eight nonnas, or grandmothers, from different regions of Italy.

Coordinate terms

• nonno (“grandfather”)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay nyonya.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɔ.naː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: non‧na

Noun

nonna f (plural nonna's, diminutive nonnaatje n)

1. (historical) A (young) woman of mixed Indonesian/Malay and European descent.
2. (historical) A young lady, a miss.

Related terms

• nonnie

Descendants

• Afrikaans: nonna

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin nonna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɔn.na/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔnna
• Hyphenation: nòn‧na

Noun

nonna f (plural nonne, masculine nonno, pejorative nonnàccia, endearing nonnùccia, diminutive-endearing nonnétta or nonnettìna or nonnìna)

1. grandmother, granny

Coordinate terms

• nonno (“grandfather”)

Derived terms

• bisnonna
• trisnonna

Descendants

• → English: nonna
• → Greek: νόνα (nóna)
• → Italiot Greek: nunna
• → Mòcheno: nu'na

See also

• (family members) famiglia; cugino, figlio, figlia, fratello, madre, marito, moglie, nipote, nonna, nonno, padre, sorella, zia, zio ^{(Category: it:Family)}

Latin

Etymology

Feminine of nonnus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnon.na/, [ˈnɔnːä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnon.na/, [ˈnɔnːä]

Noun

nonna f (genitive nonnae, masculine nonnus); first declension (Late Latin)

1. nun
2. tutor (female), tutoress (dated, may now be sexist), tutrix (obsolete)
3. old woman

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nonna	nonnae
Genitive	nonnae	nonnārum
Dative	nonnae	nonnīs
Accusative	nonnam	nonnās
Ablative	nonnā	nonnīs
Vocative	nonna	nonnae

Descendants

• Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italian: nonna
    • → English: nonna
    • → Greek: νόνα (nóna)
    • → Italiot Greek: nunna
    • → Mòcheno: nu'na
  • Neapolitan: nonna
• Old French: none (nom.sg), nonain
  • French: nonne
  • Norman: nonne
• Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friulian: none
  • Ladino: nona
  • Romansch: nona
• Venetian: nona
  • → Cimbrian: nona, nóona
  • → Chakavian Serbo-Croatian: nona
  • → Portuguese: nona
• → Proto-West Germanic: *nunnā (see there for further descendants)

References

• “nonna”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• nonna in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• nonna in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• nonna in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Neapolitan

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin nonna.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnɔnnə/

Noun

nonna f (plural nonne)

1. grandmother
2. beddy-bye

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 17: “la nostra nonna” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• nonnen m sg

Noun

nonna f sg

1. definite feminine singular of nonne

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

nonna f sg

1. definite feminine singular of nonne