Etymologically
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conversazione

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Pronunciation

  • /kon.ver.satˈt͡sjo.ne/[1]

Forms

conversazione f (plural conversazioni)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin conversātiō (“being together, association, way of life”), a learned word.[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun was formed from conversor (“to keep company with, live with”), which is con- with versor (“to move about, dwell”), from the past participle of vertō (“to turn”).[3][2][5] Medieval Latin used “conversatio” for people meeting together and for familiarity from the 10th century, and for a manner of life from the 6th; French conversation is recorded in the 12th century.[6][4] The verb conversare, from Latin “conversārī”, came into Italian beside it.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Istoria of the Pseudo-Uguccione, a Lombard text of the first half of the 13th century.[7] The early senses are company and familiarity with others, the way of conducting oneself, and the life of the world as against the religious life.[7][6] Dante writes in the Convivio that “sanza conversazione o familiaritade impossibile è a conoscere li uomini” (“without company or familiarity it is impossible to know people”).[8]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates the sense “a company of people who meet regularly” to Bono Giamboni, before 1292, and the modern sense, a pleasant talk among several people, to Baldassarre Castiglione, before 1529.[2] Migliorini observed that the word in classical Italian meant only being together, and that in the 19th century it came more and more to mean a talk;[2] Giuseppe Baretti, in 1779, still called the evening gatherings named conversazioni a bad new word.[2] Goldoni and Gasparo Gozzi use it for the gatherings of a salon, and tenere conversazione meant “to receive guests”.[4][9]

The sense “short talk” is recorded in 1942;[2] Migliorini explained that for talks on the radio the word was chosen because conferenza had gone out of fashion and because it stressed the familiar tone.[2] English took the word in 1740 for an evening party in Italy, then for a reception in a private house and, from the late 18th century, for a gathering of a learned society.[10]

Timeline

  • First half of the 13th century – The Pseudo-Uguccione uses conversazione.[7]
  • About 1274 – It is recorded for a circle of people who meet.[8]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a regular company.[2]
  • Before 1529 – Castiglione uses it for a friendly talk.[2]
  • 1740 – English borrows conversazione.[10]
  • 1779 – Baretti calls the word a recent coinage for evening gatherings.[2]
  • 1942 – It is recorded for a short talk.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A conversation: a talk between two or more people, usually informal and on light topics, conversazione telefonica: a telephone call: Dopo cena la conversazione è caduta sul calcio.[8][11][12]
  2. A way of talking: È un uomo dalla conversazione vivace.[11][13]
  3. A short, informal talk on a subject, given to an audience or on the radio.[8][11][12]
  4. (education) A class in which students practise speaking a foreign language with a teacher.[11][12]
  5. (in the plural) The title of collections of essays and notes.[8][11][12]
  6. (international law) An informal meeting of diplomats or governments for an exchange of views.[8][11]
  7. (rare, literary) A circle of people who meet regularly, tenere conversazione: to keep a salon.[8][9][13]
  8. (archaic) Familiarity; living together; way of life.[8][9][14]

Word family

  • conversazionale
  • conversare
  • converso
  • conversione
  • English conversazione

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1091
  7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  11. ^ a b c d e f 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
  13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana