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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1 |
I am looking for some information on my last name, Smarrito, which is an italian adjective used to refer to someone who is lost. I have read also that it can mean frightened and that it is the Masculine, First person past participle of the verb "smarrire". I have not been able to find what "smarrire means.
I am just curious because my last name seems so fitting at the moment, and the more I find out about it, the more fitting it becomes. Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
Italian smarrire means 'to lose; mislay'. It's from Germanic (Frankish) marrjan 'to anger; embarrass'. Cf. Spanish, Catalan marrir 'to lose'. The prefix s- epresses contrary action, or in this case, it's a privative-pejorative prefix. It's from Latin ex 'out of'. The past participle of the verb occurs in the opening lines of Dante's Divine Comedy:
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
In the middle of the road of our life
I found myself in a dark wood
the right way having been lost.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Lost (and other euphonisms) were sometimes given to children abandon at orphanages. (either because they were orphans, or because they were illegitemit)
for children who lost both parents, lost was an appropiate last name.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Here's the link to the Google listing for Italian surnames; some of the titles look intriguing: Italian surnamesGood luck! 
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