comunione

Forms

comunione f (plural comunioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin commūniō (“sharing, community”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun is formed commūnis (“common, shared”) with the suffix -iō, and Italian comune continues the same adjective.^[6][3][7]

DEI treats the two main senses separately.^[8] The sense “sharing, fellowship” is classical, found in Cicero, and DEI sees in it a rendering of Ancient Greek κοινωνία (koinōnía, “partnership”).^[8] GRADIT compares the Greek word for the sense “the Eucharist”.^[4] The religious sense, “participation in the sacrament of the Eucharist”, belongs to Church Latin from the 4th century, and the word has it also in French communion, recorded about 1120.^[8][5][9] Nocentini names Spanish comunión beside the French word.^[3] Devoto saw the Italian form shaped by contact with the adjective.^[10]

According to de Vaan, the Latin adjective is spelled ⟨comoin-⟩ in Old Latin and belongs with Latin mūnus (“duty, task”), from Proto-Italic *moini- (“duty, obligation”).^[11] The further link with a PIE root for “exchange” is marked as uncertain.^[11][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is the religious sense, “the sacrament of the Eucharist”, in the Regola dei Servi della Vergine of 1281.^[2] The sense “society, community” follows in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, the first text the TLIO cites; there the word means taking part with others in a society or group.^[2][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had the full range of senses: sharing in a society or group, the union of several things into one, the comunione dei santi (communion of saints), the sacrament, the joint ownership of a good, and a business partnership, with fare comunione “to go into partnership”.^[12] Old forms include comunïone, communione and cumunione.^[12]

Later the word came to name a body of believers of one confession, as in comunione anglicana.^[4][13] In law it is the sharing of one right of ownership by several persons, and comunione dei beni is the joint property of husband and wife.^[9][14] Prima comunione is a child's first communion.^[13] Comunione e Liberazione, a Catholic movement founded in 1969, is recorded in the GDLI supplement of 2009.^[5][13]

Timeline

• 1281 – Comunione “the sacrament of the Eucharist” appears in the Regola dei Servi della Vergine.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the word for “society, community”.^[2][12]
• 1969 – The Catholic movement Comunione e Liberazione is founded.^[13][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sharing, community: the fact of something being common to several people: comunione di ideali.^[4][15][16]
2. A close bond between people who share feelings or ideas.^[4][7][16]
3. (religion) A spiritual bond with God, with the dead or among believers: comunione dei santi, the communion of saints.^[4][7][13]
4. (religion) The body of believers of one confession: comunione anglicana.^[4][13][7]
5. (religion) The sacrament of the Eucharist, and the moment of the Mass when it is given: fare la comunione, prima comunione.^[4][15][13]
6. (law) Joint ownership of a right or a good by several people: comunione dei beni between spouses.^[4][15][16]

Word family

• postcomunione
• intercomunione

Related words

• comune
• comunità
• comunicare
• scomunica
• Latin commūnis
• French communion

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1042
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana