all'uopo

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “at the need”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈl‿wɔ.po/
• Rhymes: -ɔpo
• Hyphenation: al‧l'uò‧po

Adverb

all'uopo

1. (archaic, now chiefly humorous) if need be

   Synonym: se necessario

   • 1788 [c. 1733], “Epistola quarta”, in Giovanni Vincenzo Benini, transl., L'uomo del Pope [The man of Pope]‎^[1], translation of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope (in English), page 131:

     Senza compagno, senza guida e privo
     Di giudice perfin, come potresti,
     In tanta impresa abbandonato e solo,
     Manifestar la verità e la patria
     Salvar, all’uopo, dalla sua ruina?

     [original: Without a second or without a judge:
     Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?⁠]

     Without a companion, without a guide, lacking even a judge, how could you, left alone in such an endeavor, show the truth, and—if need be—save the motherland from ruin?

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see all',‎ uopo.

Further reading

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