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identità

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word identità

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1385, Francesco da Buti
Borrowed from
Latin identitas
Ultimate origin
Latin īdem

Pronunciation

  • /i.den.tiˈta/[1]

Forms

identità f[1] Old Italian also had identitade and identitate.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin identitās (“sameness”), recorded in Saint Cyprian, from īdem (“the same”).[3][4][5][2][6] The Latin word is a calque of Ancient Greek ταὐτότης (tautótēs, “sameness”), from ταὐτός (tautós, “the same”);[4][7][2][1] Aristotle's term reached medieval philosophy through Boethius and was spread by Thomism.[4][7][2][1] Sabatini–Coletti and the GDLI see the model of the adverb identidem (“repeatedly”) in its form.[8][6]

The same learned word is French identité, recorded from the 14th century, and Spanish identidad.[4][2][6] identico comes from Medieval Latin identicus and identificare from Medieval Latin identificō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Francesco da Buti's commentary on the Paradiso (1385–1395), from Pisa, with the sense “complete sameness”: by species there is identity, but not by the individual.[3][9][6]

Semantic evolution

For centuries the word belonged to theology, logic and natural philosophy: Bandello applies it to the three persons of the Trinity, and Galileo asks about the “identity of the matter”.[6][10] The sense “what makes a person, place or thing itself and not another” is recorded in 1673, in Giovan Battista De Luca, and before 1712 in Magalotti;[3][2] DEI dates the legal use to the 18th century.[3][2] Rosmini named the principio d'identità, “A is A”, among the first principles of reasoning, and DEI connects the philosophical phrase with Schelling.[10][2]

In the 20th century psychology and sociology gave the word its sense of a sense of self, and the calques crisi d'identità (from English identity crisis) and identità di genere (gender identity).[11] The carta d'identità, the identity card issued by the municipality, made it an everyday word;[12][13] identità digitale is recent.[12][13]

Timeline

  • 1385–1395 – Francesco da Buti uses identità for complete sameness.[3][9]
  • 14th century – French identité is recorded.[2]
  • 1673 – Giovan Battista De Luca uses it for what makes a person that person.[3]
  • Before 1712 – Magalotti uses the same sense.[3]
  • 18th century – The legal sense is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Complete sameness, perfect correspondence: Tra i due testamenti c'è un'identità di contenuto.[5][11][12]
  2. The set of characteristics that distinguish a person, group or thing: la ricerca della propria identità.[5][11][8]
  3. The personal particulars by which someone is recognized: La polizia sta cercando di stabilire l'identità della vittima.[5][7][8]
  4. (psychology) The awareness of oneself as an individual distinct from others and continuous in time.[12][7][11]
  5. (philosophy) Sameness of a thing with itself: principio d'identità.[5][7][12]
  6. (mathematics) An equality true for every value of its variables; the identity function.[5][12][7]

Word family

  • identitario

Usage notes

Identità is invariable.[5] Common phrases are carta or documento d'identità “identity card, ID”, crisi d'identità “identity crisis” and identità di genere “gender identity”.[5][11][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1915
  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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  7. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Identità.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/identit%C3%A0. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·