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atto

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Italian has two words spelled atto: the noun “act”, from Latin actus, and the adjective “fit, suitable”, from Latin aptus.[1][2][3] DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT number the noun 1 and the adjective 2.[1][3][2]

atto1 act

Pronunciation

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

Pronunciation

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

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ 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. 1, 497
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  10. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 357
  11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 377
  14. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  15. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it