Etymologically
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amicizia

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Pronunciation

  • /a.miˈt͡ʃit.t͡sja/[1]

Forms

amicizia f (plural amicizie)[1] Old Italian also wrote amicicia and amicitia.[2][3] Dialect forms include Piedmontese amicìsia in Piedmont, Lombard messìzia in Milan (1699) and Emilian amizèzia in Bologna.[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin amīcitia (“friendship; alliance”), a learned word.[4][5][6][7][3] The Latin noun is formed from amīcus (“friend; friendly”) with the suffix -itia.[1][8]

Latin amīcitia left no popular descendants: in Gallo-Romance and Ibero-Romance it was replaced by Vulgar Latin *amīcitās, which gave the older Italian word amistà.[9][3][10] The learned form was taken up in the same way in Old Gascon (1461), Catalan amicícia, Old Spanish amicicia and Portuguese amicícia.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Roman Miracole de Roma, from the middle of the 13th century.[2] DELI and GRADIT date the word from Brunetto Latini, before 1294, in the sense “warm and mutual affection between two or more people”;[11][6][12] Latini's Tesoretto sets it beside amistà: la gente invizia / la verace amicizia, “people corrupt true friendship”.[11][6][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word for an alliance between states or communities, for the allies themselves, for the Christian's bond with God, and, as a euphemism, for an extramarital affair; it also named Cicero's treatise De amicitia.[2][3] Boccaccio's Decameron describes two young men bound by “a brotherhood and a friendship so great” that only death parted them.[12]

From the 15th century, in Giovanni Cavalcanti, the word also means the friends themselves, mostly in the plural.[11] The plural later took the sense of useful acquaintances: amicizie altolocate, friends in high places, who may do favours, even improper ones.[6][7] Amicizia particolare is a euphemism for a homosexual relationship.[13][7] In the age of social networks amicizia is also a contact on a platform, which one can request, accept or remove.[13] A proverb says patti chiari, amicizia lunga, “clear agreements make for a long friendship”.[14][15]

Timeline

  • Mid-13th century – Amicizia appears in the Roman Miracole de Roma.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it.[11][6]
  • About 1350 – Boccaccio's Decameron uses it.[9][12]
  • 15th century – Giovanni Cavalcanti uses it for the friends themselves.[11]
  • 1699 – Milanese messìzia is recorded in Carlo Maria Maggi.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. friendship, a bond of mutual affection, esteem and trust between people: La loro amicizia dura da vent'anni.[6][13][16]
  2. Good relations or an alliance between states: un trattato di amicizia.[6][16][7]
  3. (euphemistic) A love affair.[6][13][16]
  4. (chiefly plural) A friend, or a person one is on good terms with; influential acquaintances: Ha trovato lavoro grazie alle sue amicizie.[6][13][7]
  5. (computing) A contact on a social network.[13]

Word family

  • disamicizia

Usage notes

Fare amicizia (con qualcuno) means “to make friends”;[6][7][14] in amicizia or in tutta amicizia means “frankly, as between friends”, and per amicizia “out of friendship, without self-interest”.[6][7][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 784
  4. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 161
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 390
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse