pietà

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word pietà. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word pietà, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say pietà in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word pietà you have here. The definition of the word pietà will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofpietà, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: pieta, Pietà, pietä, and pięta

English

The western gate of the church of Maria am Gestade, Vienna, featuring a mosaic pietà

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Italian pietà. Doublet of piety, and pity.

Noun

pietà (plural pietàs)

  1. A sculpture or painting of the Virgin Mary holding and mourning the dead body of Jesus.
    • 1998, David Adams, “Afterword: The Artistic Alchemy of Joseph Beuys”, in Thomas Braatz, transl., Bees, Rudolf Steiner, page 195:
      Whereas Beuys's early sculptural work was consciously formed within a modernized version of the stylized Romanesque tradition of art, frequently with a Christian content such as crucifixions or pietàs, he gradually was able to free himself from this more traditional approach.
    • 2009, Pico Iyer, “5: Making Kindness Stand to Reason”, in Rajiv Mehrotra, editor, Understanding the Dalai Lama, page 61:
      Ceremonial masks, Hindu deities, and pietàs shine down on you.
    • 2011, Caroline van Eck, Stijn Bussels, Theatricality in Early Modern Art and Architecture, page 10:
      It does not show the events it depicts as static, frozen in the eternal present of historia sacra in the way many late medieval crucifixions, pietàs or annunciations do, but as a narrative.

See also

Anagrams

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old Italian pietade, pietate, from Latin pietātem (piety”, “pity). By surface analysis, pio (pious) +‎ -età (-ity).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pjeˈta/*
  • Rhymes: -a
  • Hyphenation: pie‧tà

Noun

pietà f (invariable)

  1. pity, compassion, godliness
  2. piety
  3. (art) pietà

Derived terms

Further reading

Lombard

Pronunciation

  • (Milanese) IPA(key): /pjeˈta/

Noun

pietà f

  1. pity
  2. piety