energia

Forms

energia f (plural energie)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin energīa, a word Jerome uses, from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “activity, force in action”).^[2][3][4][1] The Greek noun is formed from ἐνεργής (energḗs, “active, effective”) (a later form beside ἐνεργός (energós)), made of ἐν (en, “in”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work, deed”).^[2][3][5] In Greek philosophy it was the force at work, as opposed to δύναμις (dúnamis), force that is only potential.^[6][7]

DELI and Sabatini–Coletti hold that the word did not come straight from Latin but reached Italian through French énergie, recorded from the 15th century, and that the adjective energico is likewise the French énergique, common in Italian only from the later 18th century.^[2][8] The same word spread to the other European languages, for instance Spanish energía.^[3]

The adjective energetico goes back to ἐνεργητικός (energētikós).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Giovan Battista Gelli, before 1563, with the sense of efficacy and liveliness, the force of an action or of words.^[2][4] Tommaseo notes that the sense “efficacy, the force proper to an action” is already in Jerome's Latin.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word spread in Italian from the 16th century, used mostly by prose writers but by poets as well.^[2] In the 17th century it entered the language of mechanics: Galileo speaks of “the force and the energy” of an effect, and in Famiano Michelini (1664) it is the capacity of a body or system to do work, the sense of modern physics.^[2][9] The sense “physical vigour” is recorded in Paolo Borsieri in 1819.^[2][10]

In the 20th century the physical sense gave the many phrases of technology and economics: energia elettrica, energia nucleare, energia alternativa and energia rinnovabile, the last two recorded in newspapers of the 1980s and 1990s.^[4][10] In the plural energie are a person's physical and mental strength, and by extension the active, able people of a group or country.^[4][7]

Migliorini, quoted by DELI, describes how the 17th century hesitated between the adjectives energico, energiaco and energetico, and how the rare energetico was later revived for “producing energy”, so as to keep it apart from energico “vigorous”.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1563 – Giovan Battista Gelli uses energia for efficacy and liveliness.^[2]
• 1664 – Famiano Michelini uses it for the capacity of a body to do work.^[2]
• 1688 – The adjective energico is recorded in F. Terriesi.^[2]
• Before 1730 – Antonio Vallisnieri uses energetico.^[2]
• 1819 – Paolo Borsieri uses energia for physical vigour.^[2]
• 1860 – The verb energizzare is recorded.^[3]
• 1984 – Energia alternativa appears in La Repubblica.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Physical vigour, strength of the muscles and nerves, often in the plural: Dopo la corsa non mi restavano più energie.^[4][7][8]
2. Liveliness, vitality: Quella bambina ha un'energia incredibile.^[4][7]
3. Firmness of character, determination: Ha difeso il progetto con molta energia.^[4][8][5]
4. (figurative) Force, effectiveness, especially of style or expression.^[4][7][5]
5. (figurative, plural) The active and able people of a group or country, seen as a resource.^[4][7][8]
6. (philosophy) In Aristotle, act, the determining principle opposed to potency and matter; in Leibniz, the inner force of the monad.^[4][7]
7. (physics) energy, the quantity that measures the capacity of a system to do work, measured in joules: energia cinetica, energia potenziale.^[4][7][11]
8. Energy as produced and used by people, as a resource: Il costo dell'energia è salito..^[4][12]

Word family

• energetico
• energico
• energizzare
• energicamente
• bioenergia

Related words

• French énergie
• Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia)

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 m n 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 d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1478
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli