Etymologically
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organizzare

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Pronunciation

  • /or.ɡa.nidˈd͡za.re/[1]

Forms

organizzare (first-person singular present organìzzo, first-person singular past historic organizzài, past participle organizzàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old Italian organizare, organezato.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin organizāre (“to give form; to form the organs of a living body”), a learned borrowing.[4][1][5][6] The Medieval Latin verb, recorded about 980 in the sense “to shape”, was formed from Latin organum (“instrument; organ”), from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “tool, instrument”);[7][4] DEI compares Greek ὀργανίζω (organízō), formed in the same way.[7][4] DELI, Devoto–Oli and the GDLI treat it instead as a derivative of organo, with the GDLI pointing also to the Medieval Latin word.[8][9][3] The same verb is French organiser (14th century) and Spanish organizar.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Jacopone da Todi, late in the 13th century, for the shaping of a body into its organs: God formed the body, “e puoi che 'l corpo fo organizato, / creocce l'alma” (“and once the body had its organs, he created the soul in it”).[2][3][5] Dante uses organizzato in the same sense in the Convivio.[10][7]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “to arrange, to set in order” appears in Alessandro Piccolomini, before 1578, but it was rare: in 1798 it was still felt as a neologism, although Vincenzo Monti then used the verb and organizzazione freely.[8] The 19th-century purists objected not to the word but to its overuse.[8] The reflexive organizzarsi, of a living being forming its organs, is in Daniello Bartoli in 1680, and the figurative “to get oneself ready, to make arrangements” is recorded only in 1970.[8]

During the Second World War, in the concentration camps, the verb took the sense “to obtain by trickery, to steal”, as French organiser and German organisieren did at the same time; the sense did not last.[8][7] Today it is the ordinary verb for arranging work, events and people, and for bringing people together in a movement or a union.[5][9][11]

Timeline

  • About 980 – Medieval Latin organizare “to shape” is recorded.[7]
  • Late 13th century – Jacopone da Todi uses organizato of the body.[2][5]
  • Before 1578 – Piccolomini uses it for “to arrange”.[8]
  • 1680 – Bartoli has the reflexive organizzarsi.[8]
  • About 1800 – Organizzatore is recorded.[4]
  • Before 1835 – Organizzazione is used of an activity or a body.[4]
  • 1844 – Organizzativo is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To organize: to arrange the parts of something so that they work together toward a common end; to coordinate: Ha organizzato il magazzino in pochi giorni.[5][9][12]
  2. To prepare what is needed for something to succeed; to set up, arrange (a trip, a party, a conference): Organizziamo una cena per il suo compleanno.[5][9][13]
  3. To bring together and coordinate a group of people for a goal, as in a union or a movement.[5][9][11]
  4. (biology) To form the organs of a living being and bring about their differentiation.[5][9][13]
  5. (reflexive) Organizzarsi: to get ready, make arrangements; to join together in groups: Ci siamo organizzati per partire all'alba.[12][13][11]

Word family

  • organizzazione
  • organizzatore
  • organizzativo
  • organizzato
  • riorganizzare
  • riorganizzazione
  • disorganizzare
  • organizzabile

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2673
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli