Sprezzatura

[Dr. Goodword]

• sprezzatura •

Pronunciation: spret-sê-tur-rê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: Making something difficult seem easy, studied nonchalance.

Notes: The first appearance of this word in English print occurred in 1957. It tends to be used in writing and speaking about the arts: dance and literary criticism in particular. I don't know and couldn't find a more 'English' word for this sentiment in dictionaries, so I guess we will have to make do with this Italian expression.

In Play: Today's Good Word seems to fit the performing arts: "Meryl Streep plays wide variety of roles with an amazing sprezzatura." The performing arts also present artists performing feats of physical difficulty: "Baryshnikov could fly through the air with the greatest sprezzatura, as though he were leaping with the least effort."

Word History: Today's Good Word started out as Old German spratzen, Modern German spritzen "shower, spray", which Italian borrowed as sprazzare "spray, sketch". Today Modern Italian sprezzare means "despise, scorn", the same as disprezzare and contrary to apprezzare "appreciate". However, back in the days it meant the same as spritzen means today. It was not, as one etymologist claims, drawn from Latin spretus, past participle of spernere "hold in contempt". The semantic trail is the reverse of this: from "spray" to "hold in contempt", probably from the spray of spitting at someone we hold in contempt. (Now let's thank George Kovac, who shows sprezzatura in picking out sparkling Good Words like today's with ease.)

[George Kovac]

It’s a delightful surprise to discover that some pop stars are highly articulate and enjoy a vocabulary not suggested by the lyrics of the songs they write. In 2012, Madonna dismissed Lady Gaga’s latest hit song as “reductive.” When the flummoxed reporter asked Madonna to explain what she meant by “reductive,” she tartly replied “look it up.”

The Rolling Stones released a studio album three months ago, featuring virtuoso executions of classic and obscure blues songs from the 1950s which were influences on their own music of the following decades. Mick Jagger described the album as “an exercise in sprezzatura.”

[George Kovac]

This beautiful word has captured the fancy of restaurateurs.

Last week I noticed this menu item at an Italian restaurant in Miami. The offering is called "Sprezzatura." It one of their "pizza speciales" and is described as follows:

<<Sprezzatura cream, fresh mozzarella, porcini, parmigiano; San Daniele prosciutto, olive oil>>


I also found on line an article about a new pop-up restaurant concept in Milwaukee featuring northern Italian cuisine and operating under the name "Sprezzatura."

[Audiendus]

I just found this old thread, and I would like to discuss the history of this word.

Word History: Today's Good Word started out as Old German spratzen, Modern German spritzen "shower, spray", which Italian borrowed as sprazzare "spray, sketch". Today Modern Italian sprezzare means "despise, scorn", the same as disprezzare and contrary to apprezzare "appreciate". However, back in the days it meant the same as spritzen means today. It was not, as one etymologist claims, drawn from Latin spretus, past participle of spernere "hold in contempt". The semantic trail is the reverse of this: from "spray" to "hold in contempt", probably from the spray of spitting at someone we hold in contempt.

I have looked at Wiktionary, and I wonder if in fact we have two unrelated groups of words here:

1. German spratzen (archaic) and spritzen (modern), Italian sprazzare (archaic) and spruzzare (modern), to spray.

2. Italian sprezzare, to despise or disdain; a shortened form of disprezzare, from Vulgar Latin dispretiare, from Latin pretium, price.

Sprezzatura, in the sense used in English, comes from Baldassare Castiglione's Il Cortegiano of 1528. It seems more likely to me that this came from the sense of "disdain" (for effort, difficulty etc) than from anything to do with "spray".

Any comments would be welcome.

[Dr. Goodword]

I now tend to agree with Audiendus. I believe the phonological evidence is clear enough and Audiendus's explanation of the semantics, "disdain for effort" is close enough to sprezzatura-- although a spray is easier than a gush of liquid. I think the semantic spread is about equal in which case the phonological evidence tips the scale.