uopo

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Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin opus, cognate with Old Spanish uebos, Romanian op.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwɔ.po/
  • Rhymes: -ɔpo
  • Hyphenation: uò‧po

Noun

uopo m (plural (literary, very rare) uopi)

  1. (archaic or literary, rare) need
    Synonyms: bisogno, necessità, occorrenza
    ultimo uopocrucial moment; decisive moment (literally, “last need”)
    • 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XVII”, in Purgatorio [Purgatory]‎, lines 58–60; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎, 2nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:
      Sì fa con noi, come l’uom si fa sego;
      ché quale aspetta prego e l’uopo vede,
      malignamente già si mette al nego.
      He acts towards us as a man acts towards himself, for he who awaits for a request and sees the need is already malignantly preparing for refusal.
    • 1763 March, Giuseppe Parini, Il mattino [Morning]; collected in Opere dell'abate Giuseppe Parini, volume 1, Venice: Giacomo Storti, 1803, page 58:
      [] esso a mill'uopi
      Opportuno si vanta []
      It is praised as suitable for a thousand needs
    • 1782, Vittorio Alfieri, “Scena V [Scene 5]”, Atto quinto [Fifth act], in Saul; republished in Tragedie di Vittorio Alfieri da Asti, volume 2, Florence: Felice Le Monnier, 1855, page 53:
      Eccoti solo, o re; non un ti resta
      Dei tanti amici, o servi tuoi. – Sei paga,
      D’inesorabil Dio terribil ira? –
      Ma, tu mi resti, o brando: all’ultim’uopo,
      Fido ministro, or vieni. []
      Here you are, o king, alone: not one of your many friends or servants is left. Are you content, terrible wrath of an inexorable God? But I have you, sword, left in the crucial moment: now come, you faithful servant.
      (literally, “Here you are alone, o king; not one is left to you of the many friends, or servants of yours. Are you satisfied, o terrible wrath of an inexorable God? But you are left to me, o sword, in the last need: faithful servant, now come.”)

Derived terms

Further reading

  • uopo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana