Etymology
The term Mezzogiorno first came into use in the 18th century and is an Italian rendition of meridies (Latin for 'south', because of the sun's position at midday in the Northern Hemisphere). The term was later popularised by Giuseppe Garibaldi and it eventually came into vogue after the Italian unification. It was sometimes associated with notions of poverty, illiteracy and crime: stereotypes of the South that often persist to this day. Sometimes it is referred to in order to generally highlight extreme disparities between regions within a country, such as between the former East and West Germany that still struggle with their "inner reunification".
Read more about this topic: Southern Italy
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)