Etymologically
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notizia

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Pronunciation

  • /noˈtit.t͡sja/[1]

Forms

notizia f (plural notizie)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin nōtitia (“fame; knowledge, acquaintance”), derived from nōtus (“known”), the past participle of nōscō (“to get to know”).[2][3][4][5][6] The same Latin word gave French notice (1372), whence English notice, and Spanish noticia.[3][7] Romanian notiție was borrowed from the Italian word.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are Dante, before 1321, with the sense “knowledge, acquaintance”, and the Statutes of the Disciplinati of Maddaloni, early in the 14th century, with “announcement of a fact”.[2] GRADIT dates the sense “report of a recent event” to 1313–1319.[4]

Semantic evolution

In older Italian the word kept the Latin sense “knowledge, familiarity”: Boccaccio speaks of what came alla notizia of the discerning, and Petrarch of those who were di mia notizia, known to him.[8][4] This use survives in literary phrases such as per vostra notizia, “for your information”.[5][9]

The modern sense “piece of news” spread with newspapers, radio and television: le ultime notizie, fare notizia.[9][10] Notiziario, a news bulletin, is recorded from 1908.[3] In law, notizia di reato is information about a possible crime; historians use notizia for an early medieval document recording a legal act, a term spread by Heinrich Brunner from 1880.[5][7]

Timeline

  • 1313–1319 – The sense “report of an event” is recorded.[4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses notizia for knowledge.[2]
  • Early 14th century – The Statutes of Maddaloni use it for an announcement.[2]
  • 1880 – Brunner spreads the legal sense “medieval record of a transaction”.[7]
  • 1908 – Notiziario is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A piece of information about someone or something: Da mesi non abbiamo sue notizie.[4][10][11]
  2. A piece of news of public interest spread by the media: Il telegiornale ha dato la notizia in apertura.[4][11][9]
  3. A short report in a specialist journal; an explanatory note: notizie bibliografiche.[4][5]
  4. A fact known about the past or about a subject: Di quel popolo restano poche notizie.[4][10]
  5. (literary) Knowledge, awareness of something.[4][5][9]
  6. (law) Notizia di reato: information about a possible offence.[5][9]
  7. (history) An early medieval document recording a legal act.[5][12]

Word family

  • notiziario
  • notiziare

Usage notes

Fare notizia means to attract the attention of the media;[4][9][10] fuga di notizie is a leak.[4][9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2603
  8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli