Etymologically
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indirizzo

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Pronunciation

  • /in.diˈrit.t͡so/[1]

Forms

indirizzo m (plural indirizzi)[1] The older form is Old Italian indrizzo.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a noun formed from the verb indirizzare (“to direct, address”).[5][6][7][8] DELI traces the verb to Vulgar Latin *indirectiāre, from in- (“towards”) and a verb formed on dīrēctus (“straight”).[5] Nocentini thinks it more likely an Italian derivative of dirizzare (“to straighten”) with the sense “to direct towards”; that verb continues *directiāre (“to set in a straight line”), from ⟨dīrēctus⟩, the past participle of dīrigō (“to direct”).[6] The same verb gave French dresser, the source of English dress.[6]

The sense “address” for a letter is not, Tommaseo thought, a Gallicism, but the political sense, a formal message to an authority, is a calque of French adresse;[5][6] Nocentini also counts the sense “political tendency” as a 19th-century calque of the French word.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1476, in the older form indrizzo.[2] DELI's earliest date is Pietro Bembo (1546), with the sense “guiding principle, line of conduct”, which GRADIT also gives as the first.[5][7] The older meaning “direction, guidance on the way to go” is quoted in the GDLI from Annibal Caro.[4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “name and residence of someone, to find him or send him letters” is recorded before 1587 in Giovan Maria Cecchi, and earlier, before 1566, in Annibal Caro.[5] It took time to displace its rivals soprascritta, direzione and mansione: in 1829 Boerio still listed Venetian inderizzo as a new word that some used instead of mansion.[5]

In 1797 indirizzo meant an official message to a political or religious authority, after the French adresse, and purists objected to this use as late as 1831.[5] The sense “tendency, trend” is dated 1869, in Francesco De Sanctis, and all'indirizzo di “aimed at someone” 1880.[5] In the 20th century came indirizzario “mailing list” (1942) and the computer senses: the address of a memory cell and indirizzo di posta elettronica.[5][7][2]

Timeline

  • 1476 – The form indrizzo is recorded.[2]
  • 1546 – Pietro Bembo uses it for “line of conduct”.[5][7]
  • Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for the address of a letter.[5]
  • 1797 – The sense “official message to an authority” appears.[5]
  • 1829 – Boerio calls Venetian inderizzo a new word.[5]
  • 1869 – De Sanctis uses it for “tendency”.[5]
  • 1880 – All'indirizzo di “aimed at” is recorded.[5]
  • 1942 – Indirizzario is recorded.[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. address: the name, street, number and town needed to find someone or deliver mail to them: Scrivi l'indirizzo in stampatello sulla busta.[7][9][10]
  2. The place where one lives: Da maggio ho un nuovo indirizzo.[7][3][11]
  3. By extension, the name and whereabouts of someone useful: Mi sai dare l'indirizzo di un buon idraulico?[7][9]
  4. (figurative) direction, orientation; the line of conduct or the course of study followed: un liceo a indirizzo linguistico.[7][9][10]
  5. (figurative) A trend or school of thought: i nuovi indirizzi della critica.[7][2]
  6. A formal message or speech addressed to or by an authority.[7][10][3]
  7. (computing) The number identifying a cell in a computer's memory, and the code identifying a computer, a website or an e-mail box on a network.[7][10][9]

Word family

  • indirizzario

Usage notes

Sbagliare indirizzo means to turn to the wrong person, and all'indirizzo di is “aimed at”, said of praise, insults or protests.[7][9][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli