pausa

Forms

pausa f (plural pause)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin pausa (“cessation, pause”).^[2][3][4][1] Latin “pausa” is usually derived from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis, “cessation”), from παύω (paúō, “to stop, cease”).^[3][5][1][6] Another view, which the GDLI, Treccani and Gabrielli report, makes the Latin noun a back-formation from a spoken Latin verb *pausāre, itself built on the Greek aorist imperative Ancient Greek παῦσαι (paûsai, “stop!”);^{[7][8][9][10]} Zingarelli also derives it from that verb.^{[7][8][9][10]} The GDLI adds that the Greek verb has no certain etymology.^[7]

The Late Latin verb “pausāre” is also the source of the inherited posare and posa, so that “pausa” is their learned counterpart.^[2][3] The same Latin noun gave French pause (14th century) and Spanish pausa.^[11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the word to an anonymous 15th-century text, in the sense “short interval, moment of rest”;^{[2][4][3][10]} GRADIT and Nocentini also give the 15th century, while Zingarelli dates it before 1328.^{[2][4][3][10]} In the anonymous military treatise the GDLI quotes, one must wait, or at least make such a pause, that the enemy attacks with its ranks in disorder.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Ariosto's Orlando furioso has senza indugio e pausa “without delay or pause”.^[7][12][11] The musical sense, a rest in the playing or singing, is recorded in 1492 and in Niccolò Liburnio in 1526, and Gioseffo Zarlino used it in 1558;^[13][2][11] DEI holds that French and English took this sense from Italian, while the French dictionaries DIFIT cites (the TLF, the Grand Robert) prefer a Latin source;^[13][2][11] German Pausa (1728) is a mixture of Latin and Italian.^[13][2][11]

Modern working life added pausa pranzo “lunch break”, pausa caffè “coffee break” and pausa di riflessione, a break agreed to reconsider a negotiation or a relationship; devices are messi in pausa.^[5][10][4] In phonetics a pausa is the stop of speech between two sequences of sounds, and in physiology the interval between heart sounds.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 15th century – Pausa is recorded in an anonymous text for a short interval.^[2][4]
• 1492 – The musical sense is recorded.^[13]
• 1516–1532 – Ariosto writes senza indugio e pausa.^[7]
• 1526 – Niccolò Liburnio uses it for a rest in music.^[2]
• 1558 – Gioseffo Zarlino uses the musical term.^[11]
• 1728 – German Pausa is recorded as a musical term.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pause or break, a temporary stop in an activity: Dopo tre ore di studio si è concesso una pausa., pausa pranzo, lunch break, pausa di riflessione, a break to think things over.^[4][5][14]
2. A short silence in speaking, reading or reciting: Prima di rispondere fece una lunga pausa.^[4][14]
3. (phonetics) The stop in speech between two successive sequences of sounds.^[4][5]
4. (music) A rest, a silence of fixed length, and the sign that marks it.^[4][14][8]
5. (physiology) The interval between two heart sounds: pausa diastolica.^[5][10]

Related words

• pausare
• posa
• posare
• Latin pausa
• French pause

Usage notes

Mettere in pausa is said of a recorder, a player or a computer program stopped for a moment with a key or command.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 e f 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 Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2809
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse