Etymologically
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bisogno

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Pronunciation

  • /biˈzoɲ.ɲo/, /biˈsɔɲ.ɲo/[1]

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

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