agenda

Forms

agenda f (plural agende, diminutive agendìna)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin agenda (“things to be done”), the neuter plural of agendus, the gerundive of agō (“to do”).^[2][3][4][5] DELI and the LEI think it probably reached Italian through French agenda, and Nocentini says it came by way of French.^[6][7][2] DELI dates the French word to 1535, while the LEI and the GDLI date the French sense “notebook” to 1640.^[6][7][8] The GDLI takes the French word from the church phrase agenda diei (“the offices of the day”), and DEI compares the 14th-century French form agende.^[8][9]

In Latin the verb first meant “to drive (cattle)” and then “to act”; in the Romance languages it gave way to faciō (“to do, make”) and survives in Italian only in learned words such as agire.^[7] De Vaan traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive, lead”), through Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- (“to do, act”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is an Italian advertisement of 1811, where the word names a small book with a calendar for noting each day's tasks.^[6][11] The LEI's first literary record is Boccardo in 1857, who still treats the word as masculine plural (gli agenda).^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The masculine use followed French, where agenda is masculine; the feminine is recorded from 1876, and Petrocchi still called the word uncommon in 1891.^[7][8] Ojetti wrote of agende bound in black, the plural of the feminine noun.^[8]

From the notebook the word passed to the list of items for a business or political meeting, recorded in 1963, and to the list of a person's commitments or of a party's or company's priorities.^[6][5][3] In church history it names the book that guided priests through the Mass and the divine office, and among Protestants the book that sets out the order of worship.^[3][4] An agenda elettronica was a pocket computer for appointments and addresses, described in a 1994 article of the Corriere della Sera.^[12] The diminutive agendina is recorded in 1974.^[7]

Timeline

• 1535 – DELI's first date for French agenda.^[6]
• 1640 – French agenda is recorded as “notebook”.^[7][8]
• 1811 – Italian agenda appears in an advertisement.^[6][11]
• 1857 – Boccardo uses the word as a masculine.^[7][3]
• 1876 – The feminine agenda is recorded.^[7]
• 1963 – The sense “list of items for a meeting” is recorded.^[6][7]
• 1974 – The diminutive agendina is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A diary or planner: a notebook with dated pages for writing down appointments and things to do, often with an address book: Ho segnato la cena di venerdì in agenda.^{[3][5][13][4][1]}
2. (figurative) The list of a person's commitments and tasks; the programme of planned activities.^[3][4][1]
3. An agenda: the list of items to be discussed at a meeting or conference; also the priorities of a party, organization or company.^{[3][5][13][11]}
4. (Christianity, historical) A liturgical book guiding priests in celebrating Mass and the divine office; among Protestants, the book regulating the rites.^[3][4][5]

Word family

• agendina

Related words

• agire
• Latin agō
• French agenda

Usage notes

Agenda elettronica is an electronic organizer, or a computer program with the same use.^[11][4] Phrases such as mettere in agenda (“put on the agenda”) and essere in agenda belong to sense 3.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1286
8. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 212
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 83
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Suppl. 2009
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse