invitato

Forms

invitato m (plural invitati, feminine invitata)^[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of invitare, used as an adjective and a noun: from Italian invitare + -ato.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is a learned word, Latin invītō (“to entertain, receive; to invite”).^[6][2] DELI and Nocentini take the Latin verb from in- and a verb made from an unrecorded adjective *vītus (“well-disposed”), which DELI also sees, with the negative prefix, in invītus (“unwilling”); the first sense would have been “to treat kindly, to receive well”.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the word to the 14th century.^[2][3] An Old Italian Bible translation has Mandò li servi suoi a quelli ch'erano invitati, che venissero al convito (“He sent his servants to those who were invited, to come to the feast”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

In early use the participle also meant “summoned”, of soldiers called in to help, and “tempted”: Domenico Cavalca writes that Joseph, invitato di peccato by his master's wife, refused.^[8] As a noun, “a guest at a meal”, it is in Della Casa's Galateo.^[8] Later writers use it for a person asked to dance, and Alfieri's Orestes says Non invitato, all'empie nozze io vengo (“Uninvited, I come to the wicked wedding”).^[7]

Timeline

• 14th century – Invitato is first recorded.^[2][3][4]
• 16th century – Della Casa uses gl'invitati for the guests at a meal.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. invited, asked to come to a party, meal or ceremony: Le persone invitate arrivarono in ritardo.^[9][3][5]

Noun

1. A guest, a person who takes part in a party, dinner or ceremony after being invited: Gli invitati brindarono agli sposi.^{[9][3][4][10]}

Related words

• invito
• invitante

Usage notes

A rare second invitato is the past participle of invitare “to screw in” (from vite “screw”), meaning “fixed with a screw”, now disused.^[9][7][8] In the sense “guest” the noun is close to ospite.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
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
8. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli