bisogno

Forms

bisogno m (plural bisogni)^[1] Old spellings are many, among them Old Italian besogno, Old Italian bisongno, Old Italian bexogno and Old Italian biçogno.^[2] Lombard texts of the early 13th century have Old Italian besong.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French besoing (“need”), from Frankish *bisunni (“care, concern”), according to Nocentini and GRADIT.^[4][5][6] DELI and the LEI start instead from Medieval Latin bisonium (“need, emergency”), probably a Carolingian word, which the LEI finds in Tuscany from 1042, mostly in the feudal formula ⟨de placito et bisonio⟩ (“in lawsuit and in need”).^[7][3] DEI cites a document of 1115 from Muratori.^[8] DELI points out that Old French already had ⟨estre bosoinz⟩ in the 11th century, so the Medieval Latin date is too late to settle the question.^[7]

The word is a compound of the Germanic prefix Proto-Germanic *bi- and an older noun recorded in Medieval Latin as sonium from the 7th century, from Germanic ⟨*sunni⟩ “care”.^[7][4] DELI and DEI leave open whether it reached Italy with the Goths, from a Gothic ⟨*bi-sunja⟩, or from French, where it was Frankish.^[7][8][9] The simple noun gave Old Italian sogna (“worry”) and French soin (“care”), and the compound gave French besoin and Old Occitan bezonh.^[8][9][4] Wiktionary traces the Frankish noun to Proto-Germanic *sunjō.^[1]

The word did not take root in the southern dialects.^[8] The Logudorese bizondzu was taken from Italian.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, of the early 13th century.^[2][3] In Tuscany it appears in Garzo and in the phrase far bisogno “to be needed” in Florentine texts of 1272, in the general sense of a need for something one lacks.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word covered a state of need, the thing needed and also a private affair;^[2] avere bisogno meant both “to need” and “to be needed”.^[2] Dante uses it for the goad of necessity: se di bisogno stimolo il trafigge “if the spur of need pierces him” (Purgatorio 25).^[10] The sense “poverty” is recorded before 1332, the plural for bodily needs before 1400 in Franco Sacchetti, and the sense “strong urge to do something” in 1573 in Torquato Tasso.^[7]

The feminine bisogna “business, affair” goes back to Guittone d'Arezzo, but in the 16th century it was counted among the words writers now shunned.^[7] In the 20th century bisogno became a term of economics and psychology, for the demand for a good and for a drive that directs behaviour.^[5][11]

Timeline

• 1042 – Medieval Latin bisonium is recorded in Tuscany.^[3]
• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses bisogno.^[2]
• 1272 – Far bisogno appears in Florentine texts.^[7][5]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses bisogna and bisognoso.^[7]
• Before 1332 – First record of the sense “poverty”.^[7]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses the plural for bodily needs.^[7]
• 1573 – Torquato Tasso uses the word for a strong urge.^[7]
• 1812 – Fabbisogno is first recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. need, the lack of something necessary or useful, mostly in avere bisogno di “to need”: Ho bisogno di un caffè.^[5][6][12]
2. With esserci, a need for something or for doing something: Non c'è bisogno di urlare.^[5][6]
3. A difficulty or emergency: in caso di bisogno “if need be”.^[5][11]
4. poverty, want: essere nel bisogno “to be in need”.^[5][12][13]
5. Usually in the plural, the needs or requirements of a person or group.^[5][12]
6. (economics) The need or desire for a good or service that becomes demand when backed by purchasing power.^[5][13]
7. (psychology) A drive that directs an organism's activity towards a goal.^[5][14]
8. (euphemistic, colloquial) A call of nature, and in the plural excrement: fare i propri bisogni.^[5][12][1]

Word family

• bisognare
• bisognoso
• bisognevole
• bisogna
• fabbisogno
• abbisognare
• bisognatario

Related words

• French besoin
• French soin

Usage notes

In the 16th and 17th centuries bisogno was also a contemptuous name for a raw Spanish recruit in Italy;^[5][15] DELI holds that this sense has a different origin.^[7] It passed into English as bezonian (1592), a needy recruit and later a beggar or rascal.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 858
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 534
9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 255
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it