oggetto

Forms

oggetto m (plural oggetti)^[1] Older forms are obgetto (Boccaccio) and ogetto.^[2][3] The learned doublet obietto or obbietto survives as a literary word.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin obiectum (“what strikes the senses”), a word of scholastic philosophy, and the form that prevailed over its doublet obietto.^[2][6][1] The Medieval Latin noun is the neuter of Latin obiectus, the past participle of obiciō (“to throw against; to put in front”), from ob- (“against, before”) and iaciō (“to throw”).^[2][6][4] Cicero used the participle in the sense “an accusation thrown against someone”, and only later did it take the technical meaning “what is set opposite”, matching Ancient Greek ἀντικείμενον (antikeímenon).^[2] The same word gave French objet and Spanish objeto, and it spread through the languages of Europe.^[6]

The ⟨gg⟩ of ⟨oggetto⟩ is a palatal development of the Latin cluster /bj/ with a popular flavour, while ⟨obietto⟩ keeps the Latin spelling.^[5][2] De Vaan traces the Latin verb for “throw” to the root Proto-Indo-European *(H)ieh₁- (“to throw, let go”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest sense DELI records, from an anonymous text before 1250, is “a person or thing at which a feeling or an activity is aimed”.^[2][8] Dante used the doublet obietto in the Convivio (1304–1308), and Boccaccio wrote obgetto for “anything that can be perceived by the senses” in the Decameron (1348–1353).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word came into Italian through philosophy: in the 15th and 16th centuries it named whatever the knowing subject understands as other than itself, and whatever exists independently of being known.^[2] By the 16th century it also meant the end towards which an activity tends (Ariosto, 1532) and the subject matter of a discussion.^[2]

In the 19th century oggetto took on the commercial sense “article” (1812) and the legal sense of a good or thing in law;^[2] Tommaseo and Bellini objected in 1869 that this use came from French and was not found in good writers or in popular speech.^[2] Grammar named the complemento oggetto, the direct object, by 1937.^[2] Today the most common sense is a concrete, usually man-made thing, and the word is used after a noun to mean a person treated as a thing, as in donna oggetto.^[8][4][5]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – An anonymous text uses the word for the person or thing a feeling is aimed at.^[2][8]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses the learned form obietto.^[2][6]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio writes obgetto for anything perceived by the senses.^[2]
• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses the form oggetto.^[2]
• Before 1488 – Bernardo Pulci uses it in the philosophical sense.^[2]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses it for the goal of an activity.^[2]
• 1812 – The commercial sense “article” is recorded.^[2]
• 1869 – Tommaseo and Bellini criticise the legal sense as French.^[2]
• 1937 – Complemento oggetto is recorded in grammar.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) Whatever the subject perceives or thinks of as distinct from itself.^[8][4][9]
2. A concrete thing that can be perceived by the senses, especially a man-made object of definite shape: Sul tavolo c'erano oggetti di vetro e di legno.^[8][4][5]
3. The person or thing towards which a feeling, attention or action is directed: È diventato l'oggetto delle loro critiche.^[8][5][10]
4. An aim or purpose.^[8][11]
5. The subject matter or content of a talk, letter or study.^[8][10][11]
6. (law) A good or service that is the object of a right or obligation.^[9][11]
7. (grammar) The direct object of a verb, the complemento oggetto.^[2][10]
8. After a noun, invariable: a person treated merely as a thing, especially as a sexual object: uomo oggetto.^[8][4][5]

Word family

• oggettivo
• oggettività
• oggettivare
• oggettivazione
• oggettivismo
• oggettistica
• oggettuale

Related words

• obietto
• obiettivo
• obiettare
• Latin obiectum
• French objet

Usage notes

In oggetto is bureaucratic for “in question”, and in letters Oggetto: introduces the subject line.^[10][11] Ufficio oggetti smarriti is a lost-property office.^[10][4]

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 s t u v Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 845
4. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli