patto

Forms

patto m (plural patti)^[1] Old Italian also wrote pacto and pato.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pactum (“agreement, covenant”), which DELI treats as a learned word.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin noun is the past participle, used as a noun, of pacīscor (“to make an agreement”), and shares its root with pāx (“peace”).^[4][3][6][7] Devoto connects it with an archaic verb found in the Twelve Tables.^[7] Wiktionary traces the root to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fix, settle”).^[1]

DEI notes that the Latin noun was very common in the Medieval Latin of Italy from the 8th to the 10th century.^[8] German borrowed the Latin word twice: German Pacht “lease” from the plural Vulgar Latin *pācta, through Old High German pfahta, and later Pakt “pact” from the classical form.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Elegia giudeo-italiana of the 13th century, in the sense “an agreement or covenant between two or more parties”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Derivatives followed early: pattuire (as pattovire) is in Bono Giamboni before 1292, and patteggiare “to negotiate, come to terms” in Dino Compagni in 1310–1312;^[3][4] pattuire in its modern spelling is in Guicciardini, before 1540.^[3][4] Dante uses patteggiare.^[9]

Zingarelli quotes Ariosto for the old phrase tenere il patto, to keep an agreement.^[10] In modern Italian patto is also a legal term, a clause or a binding agreement, and the name of solemn international treaties such as the Patto Atlantico and the Patto di Varsavia.^[5] The plural patti means terms or conditions: a patto che “on condition that”.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Elegia giudeo-italiana uses patto.^[3]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni has pattovire “to agree on”.^[3]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses patteggiare.^[3]
• 1311 – Patteggiamento is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini writes pattuire.^[3]
• 1950 – Pattuizione is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pact, agreement between two or more parties: I due soci hanno stretto un patto.^{[5][6][10][1]}
2. (law) An agreement that creates a legal bond; a clause or particular condition in a contract.^[5]
3. A solemn international treaty: il patto di non aggressione.^[5][6]
4. An agreement between political or trade-union forces.^[5][6]
5. A condition on which an agreement depends, i patti, the terms: Ti presto la macchina, ma a una condizione: questi sono i patti.^[5][10]

Word family

• patteggiare
• patteggiamento
• pattuire
• pattuizione
• pattizio

Related words

• pace
• Latin pactum
• German Pakt

Usage notes

Set phrases include a patto che “provided that”, scendere a patti “to come to terms”, stare ai patti “to keep to the agreement”, fare un patto col diavolo and the proverb patti chiari, amicizia lunga, clear agreements make for long friendships.^[5][6][10] A separate Tuscan patto means litter, the coarse straw spread for animals to lie on; the GDLI derives it from a past participle of pangō.^[8][2][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2808
9. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli