episodio

Forms

episodio m (plural episodi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Medieval Latin episodium, from Ancient Greek ἐπεισόδιον (epeisódion, “additional entrance; episode”).^[2][3][4] The Greek word is the neuter of ἐπεισόδιος (epeisódios, “coming in besides”), from ἐπί (epí, “upon, in addition”) and εἴσοδος (eísodos, “entrance”), itself from εἰς (eis, “into”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way”).^[5][1][6] Nocentini starts from ἐπείσοδος (epeísodos, “coming in after”).^[3]

In Greek tragedy the episode was the spoken part between the songs of the chorus, and, from there the word came to mean a section of a narrative.^[3][7] DEI dates the Medieval Latin word to the 13th century, in a pre-humanist sense “digression”.^[4] The same word is French épisode and Spanish episodio.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Bernardo Segni in 1551, for a scene of Greek tragedy between two choral songs.^[5][2] DELI rejects as a forgery an earlier quotation from Fra Giordano given by the Crusca and by Tommaseo.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Before 1584 Anton Francesco Grazzini used the word for an action in a literary work that is linked to the main plot but secondary to it.^[5] Writers of the 17th century also used it for a digression from the subject of a speech.^[6] Episodico follows in Tasso in 1576, and in 1779 takes on the sense “occasional, casual”.^[5]

The sense “event, incident in someone's life” appears in Massimo D'Azeglio before 1866.^[5] The purist Rigutini condemned it in 1886 as a needless gallicism.^[5] In music the word names an interlude between returns of the main theme, and in medicine a passing manifestation of an illness.^[2][8][9] With film and television it came to mean each instalment of a series.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 13th century – Medieval Latin episodium “digression”, according to DEI.^[4]
• 1551 – Bernardo Segni uses episodio for a part of Greek tragedy.^[5]
• 1576 – Episodico in Torquato Tasso.^[5]
• Before 1584 – Grazzini uses the word for a secondary action in a literary work.^[5]
• Before 1866 – Massimo D'Azeglio uses it for an event or incident.^[5]
• 1886 – Rigutini condemns that sense as a gallicism.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An episode in a narrative or work of art, a part with a certain independence from the main action: l'episodio di Ulisse nell'Inferno.^{[2][8][10][11]}
2. An instalment of a television or radio series; a part of a film made of separate stories: Stasera va in onda l'ultimo episodio della stagione.^[2][8]
3. An event or incident, especially one worth telling: Ci raccontò un buffo episodio del suo viaggio in Grecia.^{[2][8][10][11]}
4. An isolated occurrence without consequences: Quella lite è stata solo un episodio.^[2][10][11]
5. (dated, military) A minor action in a battle.^[2][8][7]
6. (theatre) In Greek tragedy, the scenes between two choral odes.^[2][8][11]
7. (music) A passage between returns of the main theme; in a fugue, an interlude.^[2][8][10]
8. (medicine, science) A limited, well-defined occurrence: episodi febbrili.^[2][8][10]
9. (uncommon) A digression.^[2][8]

Word family

• episodico

Related words

• Ancient Greek ἐπεισόδιον (epeisódion)
• esodo

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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1500
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 199
7. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli