attenzione

Forms

attenzione f (plural attenzioni)^[1] Older spellings include Old Italian atentïon and Old Italian attention.^[2] The Renaissance spelling attentione is recorded from 1548 to 1681.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin attentiō (“application of the mind, attention”), from attendō (“to turn the mind to”) with the suffix -tiō.^{[4][5][6][7][1]} Zingarelli derives it from the participle attentus (“attentive”) instead.^[8] The Latin verb lives on in the popular word attendere.^[9]

The Latin noun was taken in the same learned way into Romansh attenziun, French attention (1536), Catalan atenció (about 1284, in Ramon Llull), Spanish atención (1300) and Portuguese atenção (16th century).^[3] DEI and the GDLI think that the sense “courtesy, kind act” came from the French noun.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin da la Riva, from the late 13th century, with the sense “application of the mind or the senses to something”.^[2][5] DELI dates the sense “intense concentration of the mind” to Francesco da Buti, before 1406.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word could also mean regard or indulgence towards someone.^[2] DEI notes it in 16th-century philosophy, at the same time as French attention.^[10] The sense “kind, considerate act”, today mostly in the plural, is dated 1669 by the LEI and 1699 by DELI, both from Filippo Corsini.^[3][4] Tommaseo's dictionary follows Antonio Rosmini in separating an intellectual attention, which is voluntary, from a sensory one, and criticises Condillac for confusing them.^[12]

Used alone as an exclamation, attenzione! warns of a danger or asks people to listen.^[6][13][1] In business letters alla cortese attenzione di introduces the person a letter or parcel is for.^[6] Psychology uses it for the process that selects information by its relevance.^[8] In the slang of Campania un'attenzione is a “gift” in the sense of a bribe, as a Milan newspaper explained in 1999.^[14] The word is found in nearly every dialect, from Milanese attenzión to Sicilian attenzioni.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Bonvesin da la Riva uses attenzione in Milanese.^[2][5]
• Before 1406 – Francesco da Buti uses it for concentration of the mind.^[4]
• 1536 – French attention is first recorded.^[3]
• 1548 – The spelling attentione appears in Alunno.^[3]
• 1669 – Filippo Corsini uses it for a kind act.^[3]
• 1999 – The Corriere della Sera explains the Campanian slang sense “bribe”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. attention, concentration of the mind and senses on something: Ho letto il contratto con molta attenzione.^{[6][15][13][1]}
2. care, caution: Guida con attenzione, la strada è ghiacciata.^[15][13][8]
3. (usually plural) A kind or considerate act: La nonna ci riempie di attenzioni ogni volta che passiamo da lei.^[6][15][16]
4. alla cortese attenzione di: for the attention of (in letters and on parcels).^[6]
5. (psychology) The process by which the mind selects information by its relevance.^[8]

Interjection

1. Look out!, careful!: Attenzione, il pavimento è bagnato!^{[6][13][16][1]}

Word family

• disattenzione
• attenzionare
• inattenzione

Related words

• attento
• attendere
• Latin attentio
• French attention

Usage notes

The usual verb phrases are fare attenzione and prestare attenzione “to pay attention”.^[6][8] The diminutive is attenzioncella.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. 3, 2068
4. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 2053
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 353
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 728
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
15. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana