contatto

Forms

contatto m (plural contatti)^[1] Old Italian also wrote contacto, and southern texts contattu.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin contāctus (“a touching, contact”), a learned word.^[3][4][5][6] The Latin noun is formed on the past participle of contingō (“to touch, come into contact”), from con- and tangō (“to touch”).^[4][6][7] Contagio comes from the same verb, and tatto from the simple one.^[4][8] The same word is French contact (1611) and Spanish contacto.^[5][4]

The verb contattare and the noun contattore are modelled on English contact (1834) and contactor (1910).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Questioni filosofiche, a south-eastern Tuscan text of after 1298, for the fact of one thing touching another.^[2] DELI's first record is in Leonardo, before 1519: the nerves in the fingertips “carry to the senses the cause of their contact”.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word figuratively, for a contatto di virtù, and for having to do with something.^[2] The GDLI records it for the way a contagion spreads, and Bruno and Galileo used it in physics.^[9] The sense “relation, link between people” is recorded in 1834 in Carlo Botta, and the electrical contact that opens or closes a circuit in 1818, in Giovanni Rasori.^[3]

In the 20th century came contattare “to get in touch with” and contattore (both 1963), contattologo, the specialist in contact lenses (before 1973), and the sense “informant, contact” in secret work.^[3][4][10] In the plural contatti are also the details by which a person or a firm can be reached.^[11]

Timeline

• After 1298 – Contatto in the Questioni filosofiche.^[2]
• Before 1519 – Leonardo uses it for bodies that touch.^[3]
• 1611 – French contact is recorded.^[5]
• 1818 – Giovanni Rasori uses it for an electrical contact.^[3]
• 1834 – Carlo Botta uses it for “relation”, English contact (verb) is first recorded.^[3]
• 1963 – Contattare and contattore are recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The touching of two or more things; contact: Il virus si trasmette per contatto.^{[10][11][12][1]}
2. (geology) The surface or zone between two rock formations or strata.^[10]
3. (military) The first phase of an armed clash, when the two sides come close.^[10][12]
4. A relation, communication between people: Siamo rimasti in contatto per anni.^[10][11][12]
5. In secret activities, a person who acts as an agent or a source of information.^[10]
6. A connection by telephone or radio: un contatto radio.^[10][12]
7. (electricity) A conductor that makes or breaks a circuit, (colloquial) a fault caused by it.^[10][3]
8. (in the plural) Contact details, such as addresses and telephone numbers.^[11]

Word family

• contattare
• contattore
• contattologo

Related words

• contagio
• tatto
• contingente
• Latin tangō

Usage notes

Lenti a contatto are contact lenses, and a contatto con means “in contact with”.^[11][10]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1074
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 633
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse