condizione

Forms

condizione f (plural condizioni)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian condicione, Old Italian condicion, Old Italian condissione and Old Italian chondizione.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin condiciō (“agreement, terms; condition”), from condīcō (“to agree on, fix”), formed from Latin con- (“together”) + dīcō (“to say”).^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The Latin noun first named a formula of agreement between two parties.^[9][3] In Late Latin it was also spelled ⟨conditio⟩, because ⟨-ti-⟩ and ⟨-ci-⟩ had come to be pronounced alike, and it was confused in manuscripts with conditiō, a noun of condō (“to found; to store”).^[10][11][1]

The LEI notes that the word lives in all the Romance languages only in learned form: French condition, Catalan condició, Spanish condición, Portuguese condição and Romansh cundiziun.^[12][13] The adjective condizionale goes back to the Late Latin derivative condiciōnālis.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's earliest record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum, of the last quarter of the 12th century.^[2] DELI's earliest date is Guido Guinizelli, before 1276, with the sense “moral, emotional or physical state”, and Brunetto Latini, before 1294, has “circumstance on which something else depends”.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word in law, for a clause on which an agreement depends, for a person's nature or essence, for their lot in life, and for a state of total dependence.^[2] Dante uses it in the Convivio (1304–1308) for a quality required for some purpose.^[4] Boccaccio speaks of men “of good condition”, meaning of respectable rank, a sense still used for social standing.^[14][7] In 15th-century Venice condizione was the statement of a citizen's property for taxation.^[9]

The verb condizionare appears in Dante, and the participle condizionato in the 14th-century Ottimo commento;^[4][5] aria condizionata and condizionatore “air conditioner” (1939) came in the 20th century.^[4][5]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur have the word.^[2]
• Before 1276 – Guido Guinizelli uses it for a state of mind or body.^[4][6]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a necessary circumstance.^[4]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for a required quality.^[4]
• 14th century – Condizionale “conditional” is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1550 – Condizionale is used for the conditional mood of verbs.^[4]
• 1939 – Condizionatore “air conditioner” is recorded.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. condition: a circumstance necessary for something to happen, or a requirement for some purpose: Mancano le condizioni per un accordo.^[6][11][7]
2. A term of an agreement; a stipulation, reservation: Accetto, ma a una condizione.^[6][11][7]
3. (usually plural, commerce) The terms of a sale or purchase: condizioni di pagamento.^[6][11][15]
4. (law) A clause making the effect of a legal act depend on a future and uncertain event.^[6][7][16]
5. State, especially (often plural) a person's physical, mental or financial state, or the state of a thing: La casa è in pessime condizioni.^[6][7][17]
6. Social position, rank, class: una ragazza di modesta condizione.^[7][16][1]

Word family

• condizionale
• condizionare
• condizionato
• condizionamento
• condizionatore
• precondizione

Related words

• dire
• Latin condicio

Usage notes

A condizione che, followed by the subjunctive, means “provided that”, and a condizione di with the infinitive “on condition of”.^[16][15] The GDLI records a second, obsolete condizione meaning “creation, birth”, from Latin conditio “foundation”, in an old Bible translation.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1052
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1160
13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli