passione

Forms

passione f (plural passioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word passed on by the Church: it is borrowed from Latin passiō (“suffering; affection of the mind”), formed on passus, the past participle of patior (“to suffer, undergo”) (see patire).^[2][3][4][5] In the age of Augustus the Latin word meant a disturbance of the mind.^[2] In Late Latin it took the sense “suffering” on the model of Greek πάθος (páthos).^[2][5] From the 3rd century the Church used it for the Passion of Christ.^[5] Nocentini sees the two senses that survive today, Christ's suffering and the irrational stirrings of the soul, as both given to the word by Church Latin.^[3]

DELI quotes at length a history of the idea: for Aristotle the word meant being acted upon and was morally neutral, the Stoics made it a turmoil opposed to reason, and Ambrose and Augustine carried that meaning into Christian writing.^[2] The same Latin word is French passion, recorded in the 10th century, and Spanish pasión.^[5][3][6]

De Vaan finds no sure origin for the Latin verb: it may belong with Greek πῆμα (pêma, “suffering”), or with the root of petō in the sense “to befall”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Uguccione da Lodi, early in the 13th century, for physical suffering: Christ “bore cruel passione” for our need.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Bono Giamboni (before 1292) used it for moral suffering, and Guittone (before 1294) for a violent feeling that drives a man to blameworthy acts;^[2] Dante has it for intense love (1304–1308) and for partiality in judging.^[2] In the 14th century it also named the Gospel reading of the Passion and the Good Friday sermon, and later medicine called some painful illnesses passioni (passione iliaca).^[5]

The sense “keen interest, liking” appears in 1677, and the thing one is fond of in 1719.^[2] The adjective passionale was attacked in 1897 as a recent word, influenced by French passionnel.^[2][3] From the 17th century Passione is also a musical setting of Christ's death, and in the theatre a mystery play of the Passion.^[4][8]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses it for physical suffering.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for moral suffering.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for a violent emotion.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for strong love.^[2]
• 1677 – Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato uses it for a keen interest.^[2]
• 1719 – Scipione Maffei uses it for the object of one's interest.^[2]
• 1795–1806 – Passionista, a member of the Passionist order, is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) Physical suffering.^[4][9][10]
2. (religion, often capitalized) The Passion of Christ, his suffering on the cross; the Gospel account of it: la Passione secondo Marco.^[4][8][9]
3. (music) A composition on the Passion of Christ;^[4][8] (theatre) a sacred play on the same subject.^[4][8]
4. Moral or spiritual suffering, pena;^[4][9] (colloquial) a long ordeal.^[4][9]
5. A strong emotion that can master a person: la passione dell'invidia.^[4][8][9]
6. Violent, sensual love; the person who inspires it: Quella cantante fu la sua ultima passione.^[4][8][9][1]
7. A keen interest or liking, enthusiasm; the thing one loves to do: la passione per la vela.^[4][8][9][1]
8. Partiality, bias in judging.^[11][2]

Word family

• appassionare
• appassionato
• passionista
• spassionato
• passionare
• passionevole

Related words

• compassione
• patire
• passionale
• pathos
• Latin passio

Usage notes

Per passione means for love of the thing rather than for money;^[11][4][10] fiore della passione and frutto della passione are the passion flower and the passion fruit.^[11][4][10]

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 p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d 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 k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2795
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli