uopo

Italian

Alternative forms

• huopo (obsolete)
• uo' (apocopic)

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 uopo ― crucial moment; decisive moment (literally, “last need”)

   • 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XVII”, in Purgatorio [Purgatory]‎^[1], lines 58–60; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd 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^[3], 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^[4]; republished in Tragedie di Vittorio Alfieri da Asti‎^[5], 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

• all'uopo
• d'uopo
• essere uopo

Further reading

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