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parlamento

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word parlamento

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation, Semantic loan
First attested
1219 Breve di Montieri More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin parabola
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian parlare
Italian parlamento
Latin parlamentum

Pronunciation

  • /par.laˈmen.to/[1]

Forms

parlamento m (plural parlamenti)[1] Old forms include Old Italian parlament, Old Italian parlamiento, Old Italian parlaminto, Old Italian parlemento and Old Italian parlamentu.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian parlare + -mento, and its first meaning was “speaking, speaking in public”.[3][4][1][5][2] The verb parlare comes from Vulgar Latin *parabolāre, from Latin parabola (“parable; word”).[5][3] Nocentini takes it through Old French parler.[3]

The political sense of an assembly that makes laws comes from England.[3][5] In Anglo-Norman, Old French parlement took on the meaning “legislative assembly” in the second half of the 13th century, and the sense then passed to other languages.[3] DELI ties the Italian use to English parliament, recorded as ⟨parlement⟩ in 1297.[5] DEI calls it a calque of the English word, itself from French parlement, which is recorded from the 12th century.[6] GRADIT dates the French word to 1080.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Breve of Montieri, a Tuscan statute of 1219, where the word means an assembly of the members of a community called to decide common business.[5][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “speaking, speech” is recorded before 1243 in Guido Faba, who prays for grace in questo parlamento, “in this speech”.[5][7] Giacomo da Lentini wrote of turning lo meo parlamento, “my speech”, to what he felt.[7] The TLIO's senses for Old Italian range from speech and the faculty of speaking to a talk between parties, often diplomatic, and a public address.[2] Dante uses venire a parlamento for coming to a parley.[8]

In the medieval communes parlamento was the general assembly.[9][5] Giovanni Villani writes that the Ghibellines ordinaro di far parlamento ad Empoli, “arranged to hold a parliament at Empoli”, and Varchi, before 1565, explains that in Florence far parlamento meant calling the armed people to the square with the great bell to approve a change of government.[9][5]

The modern sense, a representative assembly of the state, is recorded in the account books of the Peruzzi (1308–1380) of France, and in 1531 in Lorenzo Falier's report on England.[5] DELI cites a study of the Venetian ambassadors' reports: none before Falier's names the English parliamentary system.[5] In France the parlements were courts of justice that registered royal edicts until 1790.[4] The sense “building where the assembly meets” is recorded in 1871.[5] The verb parlamentare “to parley” is older than 1294, and the adjective parlamentare dates from 1849.[3] Turkish took the word as parlamento.[1][6]

Timeline

  • 1219 – The Breve of Montieri uses parlamento for an assembly.[5][2]
  • Before 1243 – Guido Faba uses it for “speech”.[5]
  • Before 1294 – The verb parlamentare “to parley” is recorded.[3]
  • 1308–1380 – The Peruzzi account books use it of the French institution.[5]
  • 1531 – Lorenzo Falier uses it of the English Parliament.[5]
  • Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi describes the Florentine far parlamento.[5]
  • 1849 – The adjective parlamentare is recorded.[3]
  • 1859 – Parlamentarismo is recorded.[3]
  • 1871 – The sense “parliament building” is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (often capitalised) parliament: the elected, representative body of a modern state, with one or two chambers, that makes the laws and controls the government: il Parlamento ha approvato la legge.[4][10][11]
  2. (colloquial) The Chamber of Deputies alone, as opposed to the Senate.[4]
  3. The members of a parliament taken together.[4][12][13]
  4. The building where a parliament meets.[4][14][11]
  5. (history) In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, a public assembly called to decide on common business.[4][14][11]
  6. (history) In France until 1790, each of the courts of justice entitled to register the royal edicts.[4]
  7. (archaic) Talk, conversation, speech: venire a parlamento, to come to a parley.[14][11][8]

Word family

  • parlamentare
  • parlamentarismo
  • parlamentario
  • parlamentino

Usage notes

Parlamento europeo is the European Parliament, and i due rami del Parlamento are its two chambers, in Italy the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.[11][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2778
  7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 613
  8. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b 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 c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
Cite this entry

“Parlamento.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/parlamento. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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