passaggio

Forms

passaggio m (plural passaggi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian passagio and the northern Old Italian pasazo.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French passage, recorded in French from 1080, from passer (“to pass”).^[3][4][5][6] Wiktionary allows a formation from Italian passare + -aggio as well.^[1] Medieval Latin passagium is found in Calabria in 938 and was very common in the Latin documents of 12th-century Italy, in the sense “toll for passage”.^[7][8][2]

The French verb continues Vulgar Latin *passāre (“to go through”), which gave passare and its Romance cognates.^[9] French also passed the noun to Spanish pasaje and Portuguese passagem, and its derivative passager became passeggero.^[9][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record is in Bonagiunta Orbicciani of Lucca, who died before 1257: he wishes he could make “this passage” (farea questo passaggio) as swiftly as a falcon.^[7][2][3] The sense is the act of passing through or travelling across a place.^[7]

Semantic evolution

By the 14th century the word also meant the place through which one passes, in the Storia di Barlaam.^[7] Medieval Latin passagium was the crusade to the Holy Land in Salimbene (1281–1288), and in Boccaccio (1353) passaggio is a sea crossing and its fare.^[7] In old texts it is also a toll, and DEI records the sense “death” in the 18th century.^[8]

The modern senses spread from the 16th century: a passage of a text (before 1544, Giulio Camillo Delminio), a section of a piece of music, a lift in someone's car (1935) and a pass in football (Pasolini, 1955–1957).^[7] Italian passaggio in music, recorded before 1555, was taken into French as a calque, passage, by 1840.^[10] In the 19th century passaggio was also an emigrant's ticket from Europe to America, after Portuguese passagem and Spanish pasaje.^[8][11] Television added a single showing of a film or a spot and a brief appearance on screen.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 938 – Medieval Latin passagium is recorded in Calabria.^[7]
• 12th century – Passagium “toll” is common in Latin documents of Italy.^[8]
• Before 1257 – Bonagiunta Orbicciani uses passaggio.^[7][3]
• 1281–1288 – Salimbene uses passagium for the crusade.^[7]
• 14th century – The sense “place of passage” appears.^[7]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a sea crossing.^[7]
• Before 1544 – It is used for a passage of a text.^[7]
• Before 1555 – It names a section of a musical composition.^[10]
• 1935 – The sense “lift in a vehicle” is recorded.^[7]
• 1955–1957 – Pasolini uses it for a pass in football.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of passing through or across a place, or from one place to another: Aspettavano il passaggio della processione.^[3][4][13]
2. A passage, an opening or way through which one passes: Un passaggio stretto portava al cortile.^[3][4][13]
3. The people or vehicles passing through a place, traffic: In centro c'è sempre molto passaggio.^[3][14]
4. (figurative) A change from one state or condition to another, a transition; also a transfer: il passaggio delle consegne.^[3][13]
5. A voyage by ship and its fare.^[3][13]
6. A lift, a free ride in someone's vehicle: Mi dai un passaggio fino alla stazione?^[3][13]
7. A passage of a text or of a piece of music.^[7][3][1]
8. (sports) A pass of the ball to a teammate.^[7][1]
9. A showing of a film or an advertisement, or a brief appearance on television.^[3][12]

Word family

• sottopassaggio
• sovrappassaggio

Related words

• passare
• passo
• French passage

Usage notes

Di passaggio means “passing through, briefly”: gente di passaggio are people who do not stay.^[14][15] Passaggio a livello is a level crossing and passaggio pedonale a pedestrian crossing.^[14][16][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 732
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 319
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2791
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 747
12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli