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partita

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word partita

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
early 13th century, Guidotto da Bologna
Ultimate origin
Latin pars
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pars
French part
Italian parte
Latin partio
French partir
Italian partire
Italian partita
Italian partito
From the same root
Latin expers ← pars
Latin particula ← pars
English jeopardy ← partio
Latin dispertio ← partio
Latin impertio ← partio
French repartir ← partir

Pronunciation

  • /parˈti.ta/[1]

Forms

partita f (plural partite)[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian partire + -ita, the feminine past participle of the verb in its first sense, “to divide”, used as a noun.[2][3][4][1] The verb continues Latin partīre (“to divide, share out”), from pars (“part”).[5][6] Nocentini notes that the idea of something kept apart is still visible both in a football “partita” and in the “partita doppia” of book-keeping.[5]

Parallel nouns are French partie (“part; game”), Old Occitan partida, Spanish partida and Portuguese partida, and Wiktionary compares Medieval Latin partita behind the French word.[7][8][1] In book-keeping the word follows French: “partita doppia” and “partita semplice” copy French partie double (1679) and “partie simple” (1673), although Garzoni already speaks of a single and double ledger in 1585.[6][9][3]

The literary “partita” “departure” comes from partire “to leave”, which grew out of the same verb through the reflexive “to separate oneself”;[5][2][9] GRADIT and Devoto–Oli give it its own numbered heading.[5][2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Guidotto da Bologna, early in the 13th century, with the sense “part, portion”, which was given up after the 16th century; the accounting entry follows in a Florentine document of 1260.[6][5]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “part” lasted into Giovanni Villani's chronicle, where “the greater part” of an army was killed.[3][10] Old Italian also used partita and partuta for a departure: Cielo d'Alcamo has partuta, and Dante writes in Purgatorio 2 né la nostra partita fu men tosta (“nor was our departure less swift”).[11] Petrarch used it for death, the last departure.[10][2]

In the 14th century the word meant a faction and a game, and, from the 16th a lot of goods sold together (1535) and the leaves of a door or window (before 1555).[12][6] The first Crusca dictionary (1612) has it for a challenge or competition.[6] Girolamo Frescobaldi used it in 1637 for a set of musical variations; the musical term passed into German in 1649, English in 1864 and French around 1900.[6][13] Partita di caccia and partita di piacere are 19th-century French phrases, and partita d'onore “duel” (1880) copies French partie d'honneur.[12] Today the word stands above all for a football match.[2][14]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Guidotto da Bologna uses partita for a part.[6]
  • 1260 – It means an entry in an account in a Florentine document.[6]
  • 1300s – Dante uses it for a departure in the Purgatorio.[11]
  • 1535 – Antonio Soriano uses it for a lot of goods.[6]
  • Before 1555 – Sebastiano Serlio uses it for a leaf of a door or window.[6]
  • 1612 – The Crusca dictionary has it for a contest.[6]
  • 1637 – Frescobaldi uses it for a set of variations.[6]
  • 1864 – English partita is first recorded.[13]
  • 1880 – Partita d'onore “duel” is recorded.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A game or match between players or teams, with a result of win, loss or draw: una partita a scacchi, una partita di basket tra amici.[2][3][15]
  2. A football match in particular: Domenica andiamo tutti alla partita.[2][14][15]
  3. (tennis, volleyball) A set.[2]
  4. (figurative) A contest or challenge: la partita per la presidenza è ancora aperta.[2][15]
  5. (commerce) A lot of goods bought or sold together: una partita di olio d'oliva.[2][9][3]
  6. (accounting) An entry in an account, partita IVA, the VAT number given to a self-employed person or a firm, and the person who has one.[2][9][15]
  7. Each of the leaves of a door, window or piece of furniture.[2][3][15]
  8. (music) A Baroque piece built on variations of one theme; later a suite.[3][6]
  9. An outing in company, now mostly in phrases such as partita di caccia.[2][3][14]
  10. (literary) Departure, (figurative) death.[2][9]

Word family

  • partitella
  • partitone
  • partitissima
  • contropartita

Usage notes

Set phrases include dare partita vinta “to give in”, abbandonare la partita “to give up”, saldare la partita “to settle accounts” and giocare a partita doppia “to play a double game”.[15][4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  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. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ 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, 695
  12. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2786
  13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
Cite this entry

“Partita.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/partita. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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