Etymologically
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analisi

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /aˈna.li.zi/[1]

Forms

analisi f (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análusis, “a loosening; resolution”), from ἀναλύω (analúō, “to undo, resolve”), formed from ἀνά (aná, “up”) and λύω (lúō, “to loosen”).[2][3][4] Wiktionary and Devoto give the route through Medieval Latin analysis,[1][5] while DEI notes that the word is not recorded in classical Latin, which used Latin resolūtiō instead.[6]

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli take the Italian word directly from French analyse, recorded in 1578.[3][7][2] DELI and DEI agree that the French word, with its family analyste, analytique and analyser, made the fortune of the Italian one.[2][6] The same Greek noun gave Spanish análisis.[3] The verb analizzare is a faulty adaptation of the French verb, treated as if it contained the suffix -izzare, although the French verb was formed directly on the noun.[2]

Nocentini groups the word with catalisi, dialisi and paralisi, Greek nouns formed in the same way on compounds of the verb for “to loosen”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to 1639.[3] DELI's first dated record is in La Galleria di Minerva (1669), in the sense “a method of study that breaks a whole down into its parts to examine them one by one and draw conclusions”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Antonio Segni used the word for the study of numbers and functions before 1675, the source of mathematical analisi, and in 1706 La Galleria di Minerva applied it to the operations that determine the nature of a substance.[2] According to the study by Folena that DELI quotes, Descartes had put analyse and synthèse into circulation as the names of two opposed methods of knowledge; from the middle of the 18th century analisi spread from philosophy to all the sciences, became a term of popular science with the journal Il Caffè, and passed into polite conversation and the political rhetoric of the Cisalpine Republic, while keeping its air of rational method.[2] DEI dates the looser sense “examination, inquiry” to the 19th century.[6]

In the 19th century Tommaseo still explained the word from its Greek parts and discussed it as an operation of the mind set against synthesis.[8] Modern Italian uses it in medicine for clinical tests, often in the plural (fare le analisi), in psychoanalysis for the therapy itself (essere in analisi), and in grammar teaching for analisi grammaticale and analisi logica.[4][7][9]

Timeline

  • 1578 – French analyse is recorded.[2]
  • 1639 – First record of the Italian word, according to Nocentini.[3]
  • 1669 – La Galleria di Minerva uses it for a method of study.[2]
  • 1674 – Analista appears, for a student of mathematical analysis.[2]
  • Before 1675 – Antonio Segni uses analisi for the study of numbers and functions.[2]
  • 1706 – The word is used for the analysis of a substance.[2]
  • 1763–1764 – Cesare Beccaria uses the verb analizzare.[2]
  • 19th century – The general sense “examination, inquiry” spreads.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. analysis: a method of inquiry that breaks a whole, concrete or abstract, down into its parts and examines them: l'analisi di una poesia.[4][7][9]
  2. A careful examination or study of something: Ha fatto un'analisi lucida della crisi.[4][9]
  3. (chemistry) The set of operations that determine the nature and proportions of the components of a substance.[4][7][10]
  4. (medicine, often plural) A clinical test for diagnosis: Domani devo fare le analisi del sangue.[4][7]
  5. (psychology) Psychoanalysis as a therapy: È in analisi da tre anni.[4][9]
  6. (mathematics) The branch of mathematics based on the concept of limit, including differential and integral calculus.[4][9]
  7. (grammar) analisi grammaticale, analisi logica, analisi del periodo: the identification of the grammatical value of words, of the function of the parts of a clause, and of the clauses in a sentence.[7][10]

Word family

  • analista
  • analitico
  • analizzare
  • analitica
  • analizzabile
  • analizzatore
  • psicanalisi
  • psicoanalisi
  • autoanalisi
  • microanalisi
  • sintesi
  • catalisi
  • dialisi
  • paralisi
  • French analyse
  • Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análusis)

Usage notes

The noun is feminine and does not change in the plural, and it is stressed on the second syllable, anàlisi.[1][7] In ultima analisi means “in the end, all things considered”.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 182
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana