opportunità

Forms

opportunità f (invariable)^[1] Old Italian also had opportunitade and Old Italian opportunitate.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin opportūnitās (“fitness, convenience; favourable occasion”), a learned word.^[4][5][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from opportūnus (“suitable, convenient”) with the suffix -tās.^[7][1] The adjective is probably made of ob (“towards”) and portus (“harbour”), and was in origin a sailors' word for a wind that carries a ship towards port.^[7][8] Italian opportuno continues the same adjective.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante uses the older form opportunitate in the Convivio (1304–1308) for the quality of being timely or fitting: he speaks of the Romans acting “according to the opportunitade of the time”.^[4][2][6]

Semantic evolution

By about 1350 the Tuscan translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi used the word for a favourable circumstance, a suitable time or place to do something, which is its main sense today.^[4] The shortened form opportunità replaced opportunitate in the 16th century;^[4][10] DELI's first example is from Iacopo Nardi, before 1563.^[4][10] Boccaccio could also use it for a need, even a bodily one, a sense the modern dictionaries label old.^[11][6][9]

Pari opportunità, equal treatment of men and women in education and work, is a loan translation of English equal opportunity.^[9][12][11]

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – Dante has opportunitate in the Convivio.^[4][6]
• c. 1350 – The Italian Crescenzi uses it for a favourable occasion.^[4]
• Before 1563 – Iacopo Nardi writes the modern form opportunità.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being opportune or fitting; advisability, timeliness: Discutiamo ancora sull'opportunità di vendere la casa.^[6][9][10]
2. An opportunity, a favourable occasion or chance: Non ho mai avuto l'opportunità di ringraziarla.^[6][9][12]
3. (rare) Advantage, usefulness.^[6][12]
4. (obsolete) Need, necessity.^[6][10][13]

Related words

• opportuno
• Latin opportunus

Usage notes

Opportunità is invariable: le opportunità.^[6][1] Zingarelli distinguishes it from occasione, which stresses the chance nature of the circumstance.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli