avviso

Forms

avviso m (plural avvisi)^[1] Forms include Old Italian aviso, Old Italian avixo, Old Italian avizo and Old Italian aviço.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French avis (“opinion”), a French word recorded from 1135.^[3][4][1] The Old French noun grew out of the phrase ce m'est a vis (“it seems to me”), made of a (“to”) and vis, from Latin vīsum (“what seems good”), the past participle of videō (“to see”).^[3][5][6][7] The phrase renders Vulgar Latin mihi est vīsum, used in place of the classical mihi vidētur (“it seems to me”).^[8][6][5] DEI compares the old phrase Old Italian a viso mio (“in my opinion”).^[9]

The same French word gave Spanish aviso.^[8] Meyer-Lübke lists the noun with the verb avvisare and its counterparts French aviser and Old Occitan avizar under Latin vīsus (“sight, face”), the source of viso.^[10] The Latin participle goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Proverbia que dicuntur, a Venetian text of the last quarter of the 12th century, and the oldest sense is “opinion, judgement”.^[2] DELI dates this sense from Dante (before 1321) and the sense “announcement, news” from Matteo Villani (before 1363).^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word mostly in phrases about opinion: secondo il mio avviso or a mio avviso “as far as I can judge”, fare avviso “to think”, and essere avviso a qualcuno “to seem true to someone”.^[2] Beside it grew the sense of information given to someone, as in dare avviso “to inform”, and of a sign or forecast.^[2] Matteo Villani writes of the Genoese receiving le lettere, e l’avviso dell’armata de’ Veniziani (“the letters, and the news of the Venetian fleet”).^[11]

From the late 16th century avvisi were also handwritten newsletters sent to those who asked for them, the forerunners of the gazettes.^[4] In this sense the word passed into German as Aviso, recorded from the end of the 16th century and still used in Austria.^[12] Modern Italian uses it above all for official and legal notices (avviso di sfratto, avviso di garanzia) and for advertisements in newspapers.^[13][4] The telephone avviso di chiamata is the signal that another call is waiting.^[14]

Timeline

• 1135 – Old French avis is first recorded.^[3]
• 1175–1200 – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur has the earliest Italian record.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses avviso for “opinion”.^[3]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for “news, information”.^[3][12]
• Late 16th century – Avvisi are periodical newsletters;^[4][12] German borrows Aviso.^[4][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. An announcement or piece of information given to people, orally or in writing: L’avviso del ritardo è arrivato solo all’ultimo momento.^[4][14][5]
2. (law, administration) A written official notification: avviso di pagamento, avviso di sfratto.^[4][5][13]
3. A sheet, poster or sign that gives news or orders to the public.^[4][6]
4. A paid advertisement in a newspaper: avviso economico.^[4][14]
5. (historical) From the late 16th century, a newsletter sent periodically to subscribers.^[4]
6. A warning about a danger; also a piece of advice or a reproof meant as a lesson.^[4][5][6]
7. An opinion, a way of seeing things: a mio avviso “in my opinion”, essere dello stesso avviso “to agree”.^[5][4][2]

Word family

• avvisare
• avvisaglia
• avvisatore
• preavviso
• contravviso

Related words

• viso
• French avis
• Spanish aviso
• Latin vīsum

Usage notes

Mettere sull’avviso and stare sull’avviso mean to put someone, or be, on one's guard.^[4] Two rarer words are spelled the same: a literary avviso “caution, shrewdness”, from the verb avvisare (Ariosto), and the naval avviso, a small fast warship once used for scouting and communication, recorded in 1829 and taken from the Spanish (barca de) aviso;^{[4][14][6][11]} French aviso is the same word.^{[4][14][6][11]}

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 383
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
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