Etymologically
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missione

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Pronunciation

  • /misˈsjo.ne/[1]

Forms

missione f (plural missioni)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin missiō (“sending, dispatch; discharge”), from missus (“sent”), the past participle of mittō (“to send”).[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun is formed from the verb with the suffix -tiō.[6][1] Learned borrowings of the same Latin word are French mission and Spanish misión.[3]

Nocentini dates the sense “mandate, apostolate” to the 17th century, first in religion and then in secular use.[3] DEI ascribes the civil sense of an office or charge, from the 18th century, to French mission, which had it from the 17th;[7] English mission is recorded in 1692.[7] DELI quotes Rigutini (1886) on the same point: the religious sense goes back to the Gospel words “Ego mitto vos” (“I send you”), but the French extended it to any task, however humble, and used it for an embassy.[2] Treccani attributes the business sense of a company's main purpose to English.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is a 14th-century Italian translation of Gregory the Great, with the sense “the act of sending or being sent to someone on a particular charge”.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Girolamo Savonarola, before 1498, already used the word for work demanding self-sacrifice and complete devotion, and Scipione Ammirato in 1600 for a special and delicate charge.[2] The religious meaning, the mandate to preach the Gospel, especially among non-Christians, is recorded in Giovanni Pietro Maffei before 1603; from it came the mission station in Daniello Bartoli (1663), the courses of sermons held in parishes in Paolo Segneri before 1694, and missionario (1663, Bartoli).[2] The group of people sent on a task is recorded in 1699.[2]

In the 19th century purists such as Giuseppe Giusti mocked the fashion of calling every duty a missione.[2] The modern word also names a scientific or space expedition, the business trip of an employee (indennità di missione), and in the history of Rome the discharge of soldiers from service.[4][5][9]

Timeline

  • 14th century – The first record, in a translation of Gregory the Great.[2]
  • Before 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola uses it for a self-sacrificing task.[2]
  • 1600 – Scipione Ammirato uses it for a delicate charge.[2]
  • Before 1603 – Giovanni Pietro Maffei uses it for the mission to preach the Gospel.[2]
  • 1663 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for a mission station, and missionario appears.[2]
  • 1692 – English mission is recorded in the diplomatic sense.[7]
  • 1699 – It is used for a group of envoys.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sending of someone to carry out a task, especially an important, secret or dangerous one; the task itself: Il colonnello gli affidò una missione delicata.[4][5][10]
  2. A group of people sent on such a task; a delegation: la missione italiana a Bruxelles.[4][5][10]
  3. A scientific or space expedition: una missione verso la Luna.[4][5][8]
  4. (administration) A business trip made by an employee: indennità di missione.[4][10][8]
  5. (religion) The spreading of a faith, especially among non-Christians; the mission station where missionaries live and work, and the missionaries themselves.[4][5][11]
  6. (figurative) A vocation, a task carried out with complete devotion: Per lei curare i malati è una missione.[4][10][12]
  7. The main purpose of a company or institution.[10][8]
  8. (history) In ancient Rome, the discharge of soldiers from service.[4][9]

Word family

  • missionario

Usage notes

A second missione, a slow-drying transparent varnish used in gilding, is a different word: it comes from French mixtion (“mixture”) and is recorded in 1957.[4][13] DEI and Tommaseo also record an obsolete medical missione “letting of blood” in Francesco Redi.[7][9]

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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2477
  8. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca