ministero

Forms

ministero m (plural ministeri)^[1] The old form is Old Italian ministerio, the one Dante uses.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The word is learned: it is borrowed from Latin ministerium (“service, office, function”), taken from Latin by writers rather than inherited.^[2][5][6] The Latin noun is formed from minister (“servant, helper”) with the suffix -ium.^[5][7] The Latin of the Church used it to render Ancient Greek λειτουργία (leitourgía, “public service; liturgy”).^[2] The same Latin word is French ministère and Spanish ministerio.^[5]

The old form was ministerio.^[2][4] Sabatini–Coletti explains the modern singular as rebuilt in error from the plural.^[8][2] The phrase pubblico ministero follows French ministère public, recorded in 1765.^[2]

Latin minister goes back to Proto-Italic *minosteros: it is minus (“less”) with the comparative suffix seen also in magister (“master”).^[1] Popular speech carried ministerium into Old French mestier, which Italian borrowed as mestiere.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Dante's ministerio (1304–1308), meaning a lofty task or office, morally and socially high.^[2][6] One Dante passage speaks of Mary, who showed no care for lo ministerio de la casa, the running of the house.^[6][10]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word kept the Latin senses of service done by a servant or subordinate, and of a task or duty in general.^[10][3] Religious writers used it for the office of priests and for service to God.^[11][3] The form ministero appears in the 17th century, D. Bartoli using the singular in 1663.^[2]

The political sense came late: it is first recorded for the whole government of a state before 1730, and the word was slow to settle: Giordani still asked why, if Senato means the senators together, one should not say Ministero for the ministers.^[2] The sense of a department of state headed by a minister is recorded in 1793, and that of the minister's offices as a building in 1869.^[2] The religious sense survives in sacro ministero, the priesthood, and the literary one in phrases for any duty done with dedication, such as the ministero of a doctor or teacher.^[12][10]

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – Dante uses ministerio for a lofty office or task.^[2][6]
• 1663 – D. Bartoli uses the singular ministero.^[2]
• Before 1667 – S. Pallavicino uses the plural ministeri.^[2]
• Before 1730 – L. F. Marsili uses the word for the government of a state.^[2]
• 1765 – French ministère public is recorded, the model of pubblico ministero.^[2]
• 1793 – The sense “department of state headed by a minister” appears in Notizie del mondo.^[2]
• 1869 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the sense “seat of the minister”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ministry, one of the departments into which the administration of the state is divided, each headed by a ministro: il ministero dell'Interno.^[6][13][12]
2. The building where such a department has its offices.^[6][13][12]
3. The government of a country as a body of ministers, a cabinet, often named after its head: il ministero Crispi.^[6][8][4]
4. The office of a minister, or the period during which a politician holds it.^[6][13][4]
5. (literary) A high and noble task undertaken as a moral duty, a mission.^[6][12][8]
6. The office and work of a priest, the priesthood: il sacro ministero.^[6][12][4]
7. (law) In pubblico ministero: the public prosecutor, the judicial body that brings criminal proceedings in the public interest.^[12][4][14]
8. (archaic) Service, a particular task or duty.^[8][4][3]

Word family

• ministeriale
• ministeriabile
• superministero

Related words

• ministro
• mestiere
• amministrare
• Latin ministerium
• French ministère

Usage notes

The word is often written with a capital letter when it names a particular department (Ministero della Giustizia).^[12] The adjective ministeriale is dated from 1629, and as a feminine noun (with circolare understood) it means a ministerial circular.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli