Etymologically
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attento

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Pronunciation

  • /atˈtɛn.to/[1]

Forms

attento (feminine attenta, masculine plural attenti, feminine plural attente, superlative attentissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin attentus (“attentive, intent”), the past participle of attendō (“to direct one's mind to”), from ad- and tendō (“to stretch”).[2][3][4][5] DELI classes it, with attenzione, as a learned word, but the LEI counts it among the inherited words, and records it in the dialects from Liguria and Lombardy to Emilia.[6][7] Devoto and Wiktionary note that the participle may also have been crossed with that of attineō.[8][1] The same adjective is Catalan atent, Spanish atento, Portuguese atento and Romansh attent.[7] The rarer attentivo is probably from Old French attentif.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest records are from the 13th century: the TLIO's first is Ugo di Perso, a Cremonese poet, and the LEI has atento in Guidotto da Bologna in the middle of the century and in Matteo dei Libri at its end.[9][7] Zingarelli dates the word to about 1261.[4] DELI and GRADIT give Dante's Convivio (1304–1308), for someone who keeps his mind turned to an object.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had stare attento “to pay attention” and fare attento “to warn”.[9] Tommaseo distinguished attento from intento, which he found rarer and more intense.[10] Attenti! as the command to stand at attention is recorded in 1865.[6] Today the adjective also describes careful work, and as an exclamation it warns of danger.[3][11]

Timeline

  • Mid-13th century – Guidotto da Bologna uses atento.[7]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses attento in the Convivio.[6][3]
  • Before 1406 – Attenzione is recorded in Francesco da Buti.[6]
  • 1865 – Attenti! is recorded as a military command.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. attentive, paying attention: Gli studenti erano attenti alla spiegazione.[3][11][12]
  2. careful, diligent, considerate: un infermiere attento.[3][11]
  3. Done with care, thorough: una lettura attenta del contratto.[3][12][11]

Interjection

  1. Watch out!, careful!: Attento, il pavimento è bagnato![3][11][1]

Word family

Usage notes

Stare attento means “to pay attention” or “to be careful”, and said in a threatening tone it is a warning: Stai attento a quello che racconti in giro!.[3][11] An old noun attento “aim, intent; expectation” is recorded by the TLIO and Tommaseo.[9][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f 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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 2071
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  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, p. 1, 726
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 727