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percorso

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word percorso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1908 More words from the 20th century
Ultimate origin
Latin currō

Pronunciation

  • /perˈkor.so/[1]

Forms

percorso m (plural percorsi)[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle from Italian percorrere (“to travel through, cover”), used as a noun.[2][3][4][5] Devoto saw it as modelled on the pair corso and correre, and Treccani as a derivative of the verb formed on its participle.[6][7] Wiktionary instead takes it straight from Latin percursus, the past participle of the same Latin verb.[1]

The verb is a learned word, from Latin percurrō (“to run through”), formed from per- (“through”) and currō (“to run”), and DELI thinks it was probably modelled on French parcourir, which goes back to Old French parcorre of about 1155.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle is used of a space travelled through before 1764, by Algarotti, who wrote of the spaces covered by falling bodies.[2][8] Sabatini–Coletti date the noun to 1908, and DELI and Nocentini to the Zingarelli dictionary of 1922, with the senses “stretch travelled or to be travelled” and “time needed to cover it”.[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb itself first meant “to tell briefly” (before 1588, Speroni) and took on its sense “to travel the whole length of” only in 1804.[2] The noun soon gained a sporting sense, the course of a race, and figurative uses for the development of a person or a work, as in percorso di lettura, a way of reading a text or a work of art by following certain themes.[9][4]

Fixed phrases include percorso di guerra, the military obstacle course, and figuratively a hard stretch of life;[4][10][9][8] incidente di percorso, a setback along the way; and percorso attrezzato or percorso vita, a fitness trail in a park, quoted from La Repubblica in 1988.[4][10][9][8] In computing GRADIT gives it as the Italian for a path.[11]

Timeline

  • 1908 – Sabatini–Coletti's date for the noun.[5]
  • 1922 – The noun percorso appears in the Zingarelli dictionary.[2][3]
  • 1988 – Percorso attrezzato “fitness trail” is quoted from La Repubblica.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A route or journey: the stretch of road or sea that one travels, on foot or by vehicle: Il percorso del tram cambierà da lunedì.[11][4][5]
  2. The time a journey takes: Ho letto il giornale per tutto il percorso.[11][4][10]
  3. (sports) The course of a race or competition: un percorso di dieci chilometri.[11][4][9]
  4. (figurative) The development or path of a person or work: il percorso artistico di un pittore.[9][10]
  5. (computing) A path.[11]
  • percorrere
  • percorrenza
  • corso
  • Latin percursus

Usage notes

Percorso is also the past participle of percorrere, used as an adjective: i chilometri percorsi.[11][12][9] Percorso di guerra is the military obstacle course, and incidente di percorso a setback that interrupts a plan.[4][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 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 c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  8. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
Cite this entry

“Percorso.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/percorso. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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