funzione

Forms

funzione f (plural funzioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin functiō (“performance, discharge; office”), from functus, the past participle of fungor (“to perform, discharge”).^[2][3][4][1] DELI thinks it probably came through French fonction, recorded in 1539, and all its derivatives are French: funzionale from fonctionnel, funzionare from fonctionner (1637), funzionamento from fonctionnement and funzionario from fonctionnaire (1770); the purists of the 19th century condemned them as Gallicisms.^[2][3] The same word is Spanish función.^[3]

The Latin noun could also mean the payment of a tax, a sense that survives in Old Spanish and Portuguese words for a tribute.^[5] The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic ⟨*fung-e/o-⟩ and a Proto-Indo-European nasal present *bʰu-n-g- (“to be of use”), continued in Sanskrit भुञ्जते (bhuñjaté, “enjoys, consumes”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Anton Francesco Grazzini, who died in 1584, with the sense “the activity that goes with an office or post”.^[2][4] Nocentini dates the word to the second half of the 16th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense “rite, church service” appears in Paolo Sarpi in 1605–07, and Galileo, who died in 1642, speaks of the funzioni dei giorni santi as well as of the functions of the organs of animals and plants.^[2] The mathematical sense, an expression showing how one quantity varies with another, is in Iacopo Riccati before 1754, and the sense “role, task” in Muratori in 1745.^[2] Chemistry, linguistics and computing later gave the word technical senses of their own.^[1][4]

The French derivatives entered Italian around 1800: funzionario in 1793, funzionare in 1796, funzionale in 1846 and funzionamento in 1900.^[2] In architecture funzionale and funzionalismo (1933) came to name buildings whose form follows their purpose.^[2]

Timeline

• 1539 – French fonction is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1584 – Anton Francesco Grazzini uses funzione for the duties of an office.^[2]
• 1605–1607 – Paolo Sarpi uses funzioni for church services.^[2]
• Before 1642 – Galileo uses the word for the activity of an organ.^[2]
• 1745 – Muratori uses funzione for “role, task”.^[2]
• Before 1754 – Iacopo Riccati uses the mathematical sense.^[2]
• 1793 – Funzionario “official” is recorded.^[2]
• 1796 – Funzionare “to work, operate” appears in the acts of the Cispadane Congress at Reggio.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The duties belonging to a post or office; the post itself: esercitare le funzioni di sindaco.^[4][7][8][1]
2. The set of activities of a public body or institution: la funzione legislativa.^[4][7]
3. The task or job of a device, machine or structure: Questo pulsante ha la funzione di bloccare la porta.^[4][7][8]
4. (biology) The activity of a cell, an organ or a system of organs: la funzione dei reni.^[4][7][1]
5. A role, purpose: la funzione sociale della scuola.^[4][8]
6. (mathematics) A function: a relation that assigns to each value of one variable a value of another.^[4][2][1]
7. (computing, chemistry) A function in the technical senses of these fields.^[4][1]
8. (religion) A church service, a rite.^[2][1]
9. (colloquial) A chore, an errand.^[7][8]

Word family

• funzionale
• funzionalità
• funzionalismo
• funzionare
• funzionamento
• funzionario
• disfunzione

Related words

• fungere
• Latin functiō
• French fonction

Usage notes

In funzione means “working, in operation”, in funzione di means “with a view to” or “depending on”, and essere funzione di is to depend on something.^[7][4] Fare le funzioni di qualcuno is to stand in for him or her, and a facente funzione is an acting official.^[4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 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. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse