atto

atto¹ act

Etymology tree of atto¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin ago

French agir

Latin actus

English act

Italian atto

From the same root · atto¹

Latin abigo ← ago

Latin actio ← ago

Latin activus ← ago

Latin actrix ← ago

Latin adigo ← ago

Latin agilis ← ago

Latin agito ← ago

Latin ambigo ← ago

Latin circumago ← ago

Latin cogo ← ago

Latin dego ← ago

Latin indago ← ago

Latin perago ← ago

Latin prodigo ← ago

Latin redigo ← ago

Latin subigo ← ago

Latin actor ← actus

Latin actuosus ← actus

Pronunciation

• /ˈat.to/^[4]

Forms

atto m (plural atti)^[4]

Etymology

The act is borrowed from Latin āctus (“a doing, an action; act of a play”), the action noun of agō (“to drive, to do”).^[5][6][7][4] Nocentini and DELI start from the neuter āctum (“a thing done”), the past participle used as a noun, and Nocentini sees the noun āctus merged with it, especially in the senses “part of a play” and “legal act”;^[3][1] GRADIT also points to the plural ācta (“deeds, records”).^[2] DEI and the LEI call it semi-learned.^[5][7]

The same word is French acte, Catalan acte, Spanish acto, Portuguese auto and Romanian act;^[7][3] Spanish and Portuguese also have the directly transmitted auto, and the phrase Portuguese auto da fé came into Italian through French autodafé.^[3][7] The Italian phrase for an act of parliament is a calque of English act of parliament.^[1][7]

The Latin verb continues Proto-Italic *agō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive, to lead”), the root of Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”) and Sanskrit अजति (ájati, “drives”).^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's first record of the sense “deed, action”, as the realisation of a will open to moral judgement, is in Panuccio del Bagno (1276).^[7] DELI's first is the philosophical sense, “what is realised” as opposed to what is only possible, in the late-13th-century Italian translation of Brunetto Latini's Tresor.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The sense “behaviour, action” appears in Jacopone da Todi (before 1306), “exercise of an office” in Dante (before 1321), and “document with legal force” in Dino Compagni (1310–1312).^[1] The theatrical sense, each part into which a play is divided, is recorded early in the 14th century in a translation of Cicero,^[1][9] and passed into German as Atto (1802).^[9] The plural atti, the written record of the decisions of an assembly or meeting, is in Guicciardini (before 1540), and “oral declaration” in Segneri (1669).^[1]

In the 17th century atto also became the name of the short prayers that profess a virtue, such as the atto di fede and the atto di dolore.^[10][6] Fixed phrases include all'atto pratico, when it comes to doing it, and nell'atto di, at the very moment of doing something.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 1276 – Panuccio del Bagno uses atto for “deed”.^[7]
• Late 13th century – The philosophical sense appears in the translation of the Tresor.^[1]
• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses it for “behaviour”.^[1]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for a legal document.^[1]
• Early 14th century – The theatrical sense is recorded.^[1]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses atti for the record of an assembly.^[1]
• 17th century – Atto names a prayer such as the atto di fede.^[10]
• 1802 – German Atto “act of a play” is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An act, a deed that shows a will or feeling: un atto di generosità.^[2][6][11]
2. A gesture, movement: Fece l'atto di alzarsi, poi si fermò.^[2][12]
3. An attitude, posture: in atto di preghiera.^[2][11]
4. (philosophy) actuality, what is fully realised, as opposed to potency.^[2][11]
5. (theatre) An act of a play or opera: una commedia in tre atti.^[2][11][12]
6. (law) A deed, document or act with legal force; in the plural, the records or proceedings of a body.^[4][6][12]
7. (religion) A short prayer professing a virtue: atto di fede, atto di dolore.^[6][10]

Word family

• atteggiare
• atteggiamento
• attuale
• attualità
• attuare
• attuazione

atto² fit, suitable

Etymology tree of atto²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin aptus

Italian atto

Pronunciation

• /ˈat.to/^[4]

Forms

atto (feminine atta, masculine plural atti, feminine plural atte)^[4]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Latin aptus (“fastened; fitting, suited”), the past participle of apiō (“to fasten, to tie”), whose sense moved from “well attached” to “suited”.^[1][3][2][5] The LEI counts it among the popular continuations of the Latin word, with Old French ate and Old Occitan at (“what is needed”); forms written with p before t only follow Latin spelling.^[13][3][14] The learned forms are French apte and Spanish apto.^[3][13]

Nocentini places the rare Latin verb in the oldest Indo-European vocabulary and compares Sanskrit आप्नोति (āpnoti, “reaches, obtains”), as well as Hittite ēpmi (“I take”).^[3] Wiktionary also connects it with Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, to fit”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Questioni filosofiche (1298, south-eastern Tuscany), in the sense “well suited to a purpose”.^[15] DELI and the LEI give Jacopone da Todi (before 1306) for “capable, apt” of a person.^[1][13]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian atto also meant “inclined, liable to”, “orderly” and “worthy”, and atto a before a verb came close to the suffix -abile.^[15] Boccaccio used it for “fitting”, and Ariosto for “nimble, agile”, a sense now archaic.^[10][6] Dialects keep it in Lucca for “ready, inclined” and in Orvieto for “capable”.^[14][10] In the modern language it is mostly a formal and bureaucratic word, as in atto alle armi, fit for military service.^[6][12]

Timeline

• 1298 – Atto “suited” appears in the Questioni filosofiche.^[15]
• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses it for “capable”.^[1]
• c. 1312 – Dino Compagni uses atto a for “fit for”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (formal) Fit, qualified, suitable (with a): È stato giudicato atto al lavoro in quota.^[2][6][11]
2. Appropriate, adequate to a purpose: Servono strumenti atti a misurare la pressione.^[2][6][11]
3. (archaic) nimble, agile.^[2][6][12]

Word family

• riattare