incidente

Forms

incidente m or f by sense (plural incidenti)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin incidēns (“falling upon, happening”), the present participle of incidō (“to fall upon, befall”), a learned word handed down by the Scholastics.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in, upon”) and cadō (“to fall”), with the regular change of /a/ to /i/ in an open inner syllable.^[6][7] The noun, “unexpected event”, is the adjective used as a noun from the 17th century.^[3][4][8][9] DEI compares French incident, recorded from the 13th century.^[2]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *kad-e/o- for cadō and compares Sanskrit शद् (śad-, “to fall”); the Indo-European root is uncertain.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Ottimo commento on Dante's Inferno (Florence, before 1334), where the adjective describes a question brought in as a digression: “e solve alcuna incidente quistione” (and resolves some incidental question).^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

In optics Lorenzo Ghiberti speaks of luce incidente, Leonardo of the linia incidente that meets a surface, and Galileo of raggi incidenti reflected at equal angles.^[7][12]

As a noun it first meant a negative event or a complication: before 1683 Vittorio Siri writes of the cardinal held back by “varii incidenti che traversavano la carriera delle prosperità della Francia” (various incidents that crossed the course of France's prosperity).^[13][7] In 1693 Lorenzo Magalotti used it for an irrelevant digression or a side quarrel in a discussion, the sense of chiudere l'incidente “to consider the matter closed”.^[13][14] The sense “accident, crash” spread through the newspapers from 1915, and it is now the usual word for a road or workplace accident.^[13][5] Later phrases include incidente diplomatico, incidente di percorso “a setback that does not stop the whole”, and in law incidente probatorio, evidence taken before the trial.^[9][4][14]

Timeline

• Before 1334 – The adjective is used in the Ottimo commento on Dante.^[11]
• 15th century – Modern dictionaries date the adjective to this century.^[3][4][8]
• Before 1683 – Vittorio Siri uses the noun for an untoward event.^[13][5]
• 1693 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses it for a side dispute in a discussion.^[13]
• 1915 – Newspapers use incidente for an accident or crash.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. An unexpected event, usually unfortunate, that disturbs the normal course of things; a mishap, an accident: Un piccolo incidente in cucina gli ha lasciato una cicatrice.^[5][4][8][9]
2. A road accident, a crash between vehicles or against an obstacle: Ieri sera c'è stato un incidente all'incrocio.^[5][4][1]
3. A quarrel that breaks out during a discussion, often about something beside the point: chiudere l'incidente, to consider the matter closed.^{[5][8][14][9]}
4. (law) A question arising in a trial that requires a separate decision, incidente probatorio, evidence taken by the judge before the trial.^[4][9][14]

Adjective

1. (physics) Falling on a surface: raggio incidente, the incident ray.^[4][14][9]
2. (geometry) Of lines or planes, meeting at a point or along a line.^[5][4][15]
3. (grammar, rare) Incidental: proposizione incidente.^[14][9]

Word family

• incidentale
• incidentalmente
• incidentato

Related words

• incidenza
• cadere
• caso
• French incident

Usage notes

A second incidente, the present participle of incidere “to cut, engrave”, from Latin incīdō, is used only in that verb's senses.^[5][14][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: 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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 7, 678
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 c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli