obiettivo

Forms

obiettivo (feminine obiettiva, masculine plural obiettivi, feminine plural obiettive)^[1] The older spelling obbiettivo is still accepted.^[2][3][1] Sabatini–Coletti explains its ⟨bb⟩ as the normal Tuscan outcome of Latin /bj/.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Medieval Latin obiectīvus (“relating to the object”), a term of scholastic philosophy probably coined by Duns Scotus.^[4][3][5][1] The Medieval Latin adjective is formed from obiectum (“object”), the noun from the past participle of obiciō (“to throw before, present”), which is ob- (“before, against”) and iaciō (“to throw”).^[6][1][7] Sabatini–Coletti points out that the word belongs to the learned tradition beside oggettivo.^[3] The same word is French objectif, recorded as an adjective in 1300 and as a noun in 1666.^[8]

Treccani explains the noun senses as shortenings of phrases meaning “objective glass”, the lens facing the object, and “objective aim”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the form obbiettivo in Benedetto Varchi, who died in 1565, as a philosophical adjective, “objective”, that is, concerning the object as it really is.^[5][10][8] Varchi speaks of la causa materiale ovvero obbiettiva (“the material or objective cause”).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Galileo wrote obiettivo in 1630–1631, of the certainty that human knowledge of mathematics shares with divine knowledge.^[5][8] In the same period the word became a noun for the lens of a telescope that faces the object: a document of before 1660 announces two obiettivi made by Torricelli.^[5][8][6] It later passed to the lens of the camera.^[6]

The military sense came in the 19th century: Mazzini wrote obbiettivo for the goal of a war before 1872, and Guglielmotti (1889) defined it as the point aimed at by the eye, the intellect, strategy or ballistics.^[5][8] Before that Pietro Colletta, who died in 1831, had used obbietto d'operazione or punto obbiettivo, modelled on French, for the place an army was to reach.^[5] From the target of an attack the word spread to any aim that one sets oneself.^[8][10] The sense “impartial, dispassionate” is recorded from Guerrazzi, who died in 1873.^[5] Panzini's dictionary wrote obbiettivo from 1908 and changed to obiettivo in 1942.^[5]

Timeline

• Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses obbiettivo as a philosophical adjective.^[5]
• 1630–1631 – Galileo uses the spelling obiettivo.^[5]
• Before 1660 – The noun is used for the lens of a telescope.^[5]
• Before 1831 – Pietro Colletta uses punto obbiettivo for the goal of an army.^[5]
• Before 1872 – Mazzini uses obbiettivo for the aim of a war.^[5]
• Before 1873 – Guerrazzi uses the adjective for “impartial”.^[5]
• 1889 – Guglielmotti records the sense “target of fire”.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Impartial, unbiased, free from personal interest or prejudice: Un arbitro deve restare obiettivo anche nelle partite più accese.^[10][2][3]
2. Based on facts or data, objective, a sense for which oggettivo is more usual.^[10][2][11]
3. (medicine) Esame obiettivo: the physical examination of a patient by the doctor's own senses.^[11][9]

Noun

1. (optics) A lens or system of lenses or mirrors that forms a real image of an object, in a camera, microscope or telescope: Ha comprato un obiettivo nuovo per fotografare gli uccelli.^[10][2][9]
2. (military) The aim of an operation, or the target at which fire is directed.^[10][2][3]
3. An aim or goal that one sets oneself: Il nostro obiettivo è finire i lavori entro maggio.^[10][3][12]

Word family

• obiettività
• obiettivamente
• obiettivare
• obiettivismo
• obiettivizzare

Related words

• obietto
• oggetto
• oggettivo
• obiettare
• Latin obiectum
• French objectif

Usage notes

The GDLI records a separate old legal adjective obiettivo, “concerning an objection”, derived from obietto “objection”.^[13] Fixed phrases include obiettivo sensibile, a building especially at risk of attack, and obiettivo a focale variabile, a zoom lens.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
7. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c 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, p. 11, 727