invisibile

Forms

invisibile (plural invisibili)^[1] Old forms are Old Italian envesibele and Old Italian invisibole.^[2]

Etymology

The word is learned: it is borrowed from Late Latin invisibilis (“that cannot be seen”).^[3][4][1] The Latin adjective is the negative prefix in- with vīsibilis (“visible”).^[3][5][6] It rendered Ancient Greek ἀόρατος (aóratos).^[7] The same word is French invisible, recorded from the 13th century.^[7][2]

That adjective belongs to videō (“to see”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *uid-eh₁- (“to see”).^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in a poem of Frate Ubertino in the 13th century, with the sense “impossible to see”: A invisibil' cose deste figura (“to invisible things you gave shape”), said of God.^[3][2] Zingarelli dates the word to 1282.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The earliest uses are religious and philosophical: God, angels and souls are invisibili, and the creed sets the visible things beside the invisible.^[2][10] Petrarch wrote of Laura's invisibil forma in paradise.^[10][11]

L. B. Alberti (1437–1438) used it hyperbolically for something extremely small.^[3] Modern senses include the scientific one of things too small or far to see without instruments, the joking one of a person who is never around, and technical ones: in economics partite invisibili are the earnings and payments for services in the balance of payments, and in military use an aircraft is invisibile when radar cannot detect it.^[12][6][11]

Timeline

• 13th century – Frate Ubertino uses invisibile of things that cannot be seen.^[3][2]
• 1282 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[9]
• 1437–1438 – L. B. Alberti uses it for something extremely small.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. invisible because it has no material form, immaterial, spiritual: il mondo invisibile.^[12][6][13]
2. Too small or too far away to be seen: batteri invisibili senza microscopio.^[12][6][13]
3. Hidden, not showing on the outside: una cucitura invisibile.^[12][6][14]
4. (hyperbolic) Tiny, hardly noticeable.^[12][6][9]
5. (jocular) Of a person, never to be seen or found.^[12][6][9]
6. (military) Of an aircraft, built so as not to be detected by radar.^[12][6][11]
7. (economics) In partite invisibili: the items of the balance of payments for services, such as tourism and emigrants' remittances.^[6][13][14]

Noun

1. (masculine) The invisible, the spiritual world.^[12][6][15]
2. (masculine, rare) A very fine fabric for women's veils.^[12][9][15]
3. (feminine, rare, usually plural) A very thin hairpin.^[12][9][15]
4. (usually plural) A person ignored by society because of illness, origin or poverty.^[13]

Word family

• invisibilità
• invisibilmente

Related words

• visibile
• vedere
• Latin invisibilis
• French invisible

Usage notes

The opposite is visibile.^[10] Inchiostro invisibile is invisible ink, the same as inchiostro simpatico.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2084
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli