abitudine

Forms

abitudine f (plural abitudini)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin habitūdō (“condition, state”), from habitus (“state, bearing”), which comes from habeō (“to have, hold”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Prati notes that it came in through literature with the Latin sense ‘constitution of the body’ and then took the sense ‘disposition’.^[6]

DEI allows either a direct Latinism or a borrowing of French habitude, and the GDLI thinks the French word helped to spread the modern use.^[7][8] abitudinario is French habitudinaire (1770).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Vita nuova (1292–1293), in the sense ‘natural disposition, way of being, state’.^[9][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant a natural disposition of body or mind: the Crescenzi translation uses it for the constitution of a body, Passavanti and the Ottimo commento for a disposition.^[9][6] Tommaseo still gave first the sense of a body's temperament and structure.^[10]

The modern sense, a tendency acquired by repeating the same acts, is recorded as a medical term in 1828 and in general use by Fanfani in 1855.^[6] The GDLI quotes Beccaria's L’impero dell’abitudine è universale sopra ogni essere che sente (“the rule of habit is universal over every being that feels”) and Manzoni's Aveva contratte abitudini signorili (“he had acquired gentlemanly habits”).^[8] Tommaseo and Rigutini judged the older abito the more popular word.^[8] abitudinario ‘a creature of habit’ is recorded in 1855.^[2]

Timeline

• 1292–1293 – Dante uses abitudine in the Vita nuova.^[9][2]
• 1770 – French habitudinaire is recorded.^[2]
• 1828 – Abitudine is used as a medical term.^[6]
• 1855 – Fanfani records the sense ‘being used to something’, and Ugolini abitudinario.^[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A habit, a tendency acquired by repeating the same acts or behaviour: Ho preso l’abitudine di camminare dopo cena.^[4][11][12]
2. (usually plural) The customs and ways of a people or a place: le abitudini degli antichi romani.^[12][13]
3. A constant way of being or acting;^[4][14] (philosophy, law) a stable disposition.^[4][14]
4. habituation to a substance, such as a food or a drug.^[14]
5. (archaic) A natural disposition or constitution of the body or mind.^[4][11][14]

Word family

• abitudinario
• disabitudine

Related words

• abito
• abituale
• abituare
• Latin habitudo
• French habitude

Usage notes

D’abitudine means ‘usually, as a rule’, and fare l’abitudine a qualcosa ‘to get used to something’.^[4][12][14] Zingarelli distinguishes abitudine, the disposition, from consuetudine, the repeated behaviour itself.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 13
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 11
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 46
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)