Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Aria
(2,622 words)

1. Etymology and use before the 15th century

At least two etymologies are proposed for the term aria (also air/ayre, Italian aria, French air, German Arie), and their meanings often overlap in practice. The Late Latin aer (pl. aera) is found in vernacular authors of the 13th and 14th centuries (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio) in the sense of “air,” “wind,” “sky.” This sense found its…

Cite this page
Dubowy, Norbert, “Aria”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017035>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



▲   Back to top   ▲