apparato

Forms

apparato m (plural apparati)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin apparātus (“preparation”), a noun of the fourth declension.^[2][3][1][4] DELI and Zingarelli give the source as Late Latin.^[5][6] The Latin noun is formed from apparō (“to prepare”) with the suffix -tus, and the verb is ad- with parō (“to make ready”).^[7][1][2]

French apparat is a loanword from the same Latin noun, and Spanish aparato and Portuguese aparato correspond.^[8][9] The LEI treats some modern senses as calques of or loans from Russian.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Jacopone da Todi, who died in 1306, in the sense “preparation, decoration”.^[5][4][11]

Semantic evolution

In the late 14th century an Old Italian apparato is a procession.^[10] From 1498 it means preparations and arrangements in general.^[10] The 16th century added the theatre, the army and machinery: the stage set from 1529 in Baldassare Castiglione, an array of instruments for a purpose before 1529, also in Castiglione, and military preparations and deployment from 1540 in Francesco Guicciardini.^[10][5] Tommaseo remarks that apparato is more showy than apparecchio, not always more effective.^[12]

Anatomy took the word for a set of organs serving one function, recorded before 1565 in Benedetto Varchi.^[5] The political sense, the organs that run a state or a party, is first recorded in Corrado Alvaro in 1959.^[5][13]

Timeline

• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses apparato.^[5][4]
• Late 14th century – Apparato “procession” in a translation of the Maccabees.^[10]
• 1498 – Bisticci uses it for preparations.^[10]
• Before 1529 – Baldassare Castiglione uses it for a set of instruments and for the stage set.^[5][10]
• 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini uses it for military preparations.^[10]
• Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses it for a set of organs.^[5]
• 1886 – Apparato scenico appears in Gabriele D'Annunzio.^[10]
• 1959 – Corrado Alvaro uses it for the governing bodies of a state or party.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The decorations and preparations for a ceremony or festival: un apparato di fiori e di bandiere.^[4][14][15]
2. (figurative) Display, pomp, show: sposarsi senza apparato.^[4][15][16]
3. (theatre) The staging of a play, the set: apparato scenico.^[4][14][16]
4. A set of instruments, machines or plant serving one purpose, an apparatus: apparato elettrico.^{[4][14][6][1]}
5. A deployment of troops or police: un vasto apparato di polizia.^[14][15][1]
6. The organs of government or administration, and the officials who run a party: apparato burocratico.^[4][13][6]
7. (anatomy, biology) A set of organs or structures with one function, a system: apparato digerente, apparato di Golgi.^[4][14][6]
8. (law, history) In medieval jurisprudence, a continuous gloss on a legal text.^[4]
9. (philology) Short for apparato critico, the critical apparatus of an edition.^[4][13][6]

Related words

• apparare
• apparecchio
• parare
• preparare
• Latin apparatus

Usage notes

GRADIT also lists apparato as the past participle of the verbs apparare.^[4] In Old Italian the participle meant “adorned”, “prepared” and “learned”, and of a priest “vested”, from the early 13th century.^[4][11] Tommaseo marks it as obsolete except for the sacred vestments.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 173
11. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli