fatto

Forms

fatto m (plural fatti)^[1] As an adjective, the past participle of fare, it is fatto, feminine fatta, plural fatti, fatte.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin factum (“deed, act”), the noun use of factus (“made, done”), the past participle of faciō (“to make, do”), which gave fare.^[3][4][5][1] Nocentini notes that the participle took both the noun sense “something done” and the adjective sense “developed, ripe”.^[4] The word is panromance: French fait, Occitan fach, Catalan fet, Spanish hecho, Portuguese feito, Sardinian fattu and Romanian fapt.^[4][6][7]

The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place”), through Proto-Italic.^[1] Devoto observes that the participle was built on the present stem with its ⟨-c-⟩, not on the bare root, which would have given a form like Ancient Greek θετός (thetós).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to 1219, and GRADIT gives “before 1219” for the sense of a story or plot.^[4][5] In DELI the first records are in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for “accomplished” and, as a noun, “an action done” and “the content of a literary work”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the noun meant above all a deed or exploit, the plural fatti a person's actions, as in Dante's gran fatti of the families of Florence (Paradiso 16).^[9] Boccaccio has venire al fatto “to come to the point”, and fatto d'arme, a battle or armed clash.^[10][11] From these grew the modern senses: an event that really happened, as opposed to words or ideas (fatti, non parole), and, in the plural, one's own business (farsi i fatti propri).^[5][12]

The adjective developed senses of its own: “ripe” (before 1348, Giovanni Villani), “adult” (Francesco da Barberino), “cooked” (Mattioli, before 1563), and in recent slang “high on drugs” or “exhausted”.^[3][5][9] Words built on the plural include the conjunctions infatti (1566) and difatti, and the adverb affatto (1274), which now often means “not at all”.^[4] The pejorative fattaccio, a shocking deed or a crime of blood, is a Roman word.^[3]

Timeline

• 1219 – Nocentini's date for the first record.^[4]
• 1274 – Affatto is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses fatto for an action done and for the content of a literary work.^[3]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses the adjective for “ripe”.^[3]
• 1566 – Infatti is recorded.^[4]
• 1735 – Fattaccio appears in Niccolò Forteguerri.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An event, something that happens or has happened: È successo un fatto curioso stamattina.^{[5][2][12][1]}
2. A fact, what is concrete and real, as opposed to words or opinions: fatti, non parole, Il fatto è che non ha mai risposto.^[5][2][12]
3. The plot of a novel, play or film: Il fatto si svolge a Venezia.^[5][13]
4. (chiefly in the plural) One's own private business: Pensa ai fatti tuoi!^[5][12][13]
5. (law) A fact that creates, changes or ends a legal relationship.^[12]

Adjective

1. Made, done; made in a certain way or of a certain material: un mobile fatto a mano.^[2][12][1]
2. Fully grown, adult; of fruit, ripe; of time, late: un uomo fatto, a notte fatta.^[5][2][14]
3. Suited, cut out for something: Non sono fatto per questo mestiere.^[5][14]
4. (slang) High on drugs; very tired: Dopo la partita era completamente fatto.^[5][12][9]

Word family

• fatta
• fattaccio
• fatterello
• fattezza
• fattibile
• fattivo
• fattuale
• fattispecie
• affatto
• infatti
• difatti
• misfatto
• malfatto
• benfatto

Related words

• fare
• Latin factum

Usage notes

Common phrases include di fatto “in fact, de facto”, sul fatto “in the act”, fatto sta che “the fact is that”, dire a qualcuno il fatto suo “to tell someone a few home truths” and the proverb cosa fatta capo ha “what is done is done”.^[5][2][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 427
12. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana