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disegno

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word disegno

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
end of the 13th century, Fatti di Cesare
Ultimate origin
Latin dēsignō

Pronunciation

  • /diˈzeɲ.ɲo/, /diˈseɲ.ɲo/[1]

Forms

disegno m (plural disegni)[1] Old Italian also wrote dissegno and disegnio, and northern texts have desen.[2]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun of disegnare (“to draw”), formed without a suffix.[3][4][5] The verb is the popular outcome of Latin dēsignō (“to mark out; to represent”), and designare is its learned doublet.[6][3][1] The Latin verb is formed from signum (“sign, mark”).[7]

Italian lent the noun to French, as French dessin, recorded from 1529 in older spellings, and the verb as French dessiner.[8][6][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Sienese Fatti di Cesare at the end of the 13th century, and Nocentini dates the word to the same years.[2][6] The Old Italian senses are a drawing made for decoration, a schematic geometric figure, the plan of a building to be put up, the plan of a literary work, and a military plan of campaign.[2]

Semantic evolution

DELI's dated senses are the outline of a literary work (Franco Sacchetti, before 1400), a drawing of real or imagined things (Giovanni Morelli, before 1444) and a plan or intention (Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi, before 1471).[3] In Morelli's chronicle the ambassadors bring il disegno so that the fortress can be built secondo il disegno, “according to the plan”.[11]

In Renaissance art theory disegno was the idea behind every work, which the hand then expresses;[11][10] Vasari defines it as the visible expression of the concept formed in the mind.[11][10] German uses Disegno as a term for this Renaissance concept.[10] In law, the disegno di legge (a government bill) is recorded from 1858.[3] In the 20th century the disegno animato named the cartoon film, and disegno industriale is the Italian for industrial design.[12][13]

Timeline

  • End of the 13th century – Disegno appears in the Fatti di Cesare.[2]
  • Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for the outline of a work.[3]
  • Before 1444 – Giovanni Morelli uses it for a drawing.[3]
  • Before 1471 – Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi uses it for a plan or intention.[3]
  • 1529 – French desseing, from the Italian word, is recorded.[9][10]
  • 1858 – Disegno di legge appears in the title of a pamphlet.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A drawing: a picture made with lines and marks in pencil, pen, charcoal and so on: Mia figlia mi ha regalato un disegno fatto con i pastelli.[4][12][14]
  2. A technical drawing or plan for building or making something: L'ingegnere ha preparato i disegni del ponte.[4][12][14]
  3. An ornamental pattern or motif, especially on fabric or paper.[4][12][14]
  4. The art and technique of drawing, and the school subject: Al liceo andavo bene solo in disegno.[4][14][15]
  5. A way of drawing, a style of line.[4][15]
  6. (figurative) The outline or structure of a literary or musical work.[4][12][14]
  7. (figurative) A plan, purpose, design: Tutto è andato secondo il loro disegno.[4][12][14]
  8. (law) disegno di legge, a bill put before parliament.[12][13]

Word family

  • disegnino
  • sovradisegno

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 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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 1448
  10. ^ a b c d e 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 Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
Cite this entry

“Disegno.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/disegno. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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