direzione

Forms

direzione f (plural direzioni)^[1] The TLIO also records Old Italian directione and Old Italian direzzione.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dīrēctiō (“a straightening; direction”), a learned word: the noun of action of dīrigō (“to direct”), formed on its participle dīrēctus.^{[3][4][5][6][7][1]} The word exists elsewhere in Romance only as a learned word too.^[8] The French word direction is recorded from 1372.^[4]

In the sense “the people who direct something, the management” the Italian noun is a calque of French “direction”.^[9] Körting placed Italian dirizzone (“blind headlong rush”) beside it, following Canello, but noted Ascoli's doubt that the word comes directly from the Latin accusative.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a sermon of Giordano da Pisa on Genesis from 1309, and Zingarelli gives the same date.^[2][10] The earliest senses were the guiding of a movement, of a thing or a person and also figuratively, and the fact of facing toward a point; a translation of the Latin Bible also used it for what is right and just.^[2] DELI's first record of the sense “the way in which something moves” is Francesco da Buti, before 1406.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Francesco da Buti used the word of the rays of the heavenly bodies, through which astrologers said they sent down their influence, and Galileo of the inclinations of the sides of a figure and the direction of the sun's axis.^[11] The sense “guidance with advice and teaching” is recorded in Savonarola (before 1498), and “the act of directing or commanding” in Daniello Bartoli (1673).^[3]

The sense “governing body of an organization” is first recorded in Foscolo (1808), and direzione generale in 1797.^[3] The figurative sense “course, tendency” dates from before 1798, and the geometrical sense, what all lines parallel to a given line have in common, from 1956.^[3] Baretti used direzione for the address on a letter, a sense now out of use.^[12] Today the word also names the place where the management works, and the conducting of an orchestra.^[4][9]

Timeline

• 1309 – Giordano da Pisa uses direzione in a sermon.^[2]
• 1372 – French direction is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1406 – Francesco da Buti uses it for the way something moves.^[3][4]
• Before 1498 – Savonarola uses it for guidance with advice and teaching.^[3]
• 1673 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for the act of directing.^[3]
• 1797 – Direzione generale is recorded.^[3]
• 1808 – Foscolo uses it for a governing body.^[3]
• 1956 – The geometrical sense is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. direction, way: the side or point toward which someone or something faces or moves: Il vento ha cambiato direzione.^[4][13][14]
2. (figurative) Course, tendency: Le indagini hanno preso una nuova direzione.^[4][13][10]
3. management, leadership: the act of directing or running something: Gli hanno affidato la direzione del museo.^[4][9][13]
4. (music) The conducting of an orchestra or choir.^[4][9][6]
5. The governing body of a company, institution or party; the management.^[4][9][14]
6. The office of the director, or the place where the management has its seat: Il preside lo ha chiamato in direzione.^[4][14][6]
7. (mathematics) What all the lines parallel to a given line have in common.^[10][6]

Word family

• direzionale
• condirezione
• direzionare

Related words

• direttore
• dirigente
• dirigere
• diretto
• Latin directio

Usage notes

A separate, obsolete direzione, “plunder”, was a Latinism from Latin dīreptiō, used by Guicciardini;^[15][11] Tommaseo thought it should be spelled with two z, and it is also written direpzione.^[15][11]

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 k 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 f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1318
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1319