politico

Forms

politico (feminine politica, masculine plural politici, feminine plural politiche)^[1] Old Italian also wrote pulitico; the TLIO lists the feminine plural pollitiche and the Latin-looking politice.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin polīticus (“of citizens, political”), from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós, “of or concerning citizens; of the state”), the adjective of πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”), from πόλις (pólis, “city”).^{[3][4][5][1][6][7]} The noun politica is the Greek feminine πολιτική (politikḗ), short for “the political art”, and is recorded in Italian earlier than the adjective, before 1294 in Brunetto Latini.^[3][4] The same learned word is French politique and Spanish político, and it spread to the other European languages.^[4]

Two later formations were modelled on other languages: politicizzare follows the English verb politicize (1758), and the recent phrase politica politicante copies the French phrase politique politicienne.^[3] English borrowed politico, from Italian or Spanish, in 1630, often with a pejorative tone.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a letter of Ugo Panziera, written in western Tuscany in 1312;^[2][3] DELI gives the 14th-century Fiorità d'Italia.^[2][3] In Old Italian the adjective described civil life in an organized community, especially as the mark of human nature, the moral teaching on which life together rests (as against theology), and laws issued by a lay authority (as against canon law).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle's definition of man as a political animal kept the old sense alive: Giacomini writes that man is by nature a politico animal, born not for himself alone but for friends, family and country.^[9] The noun for a statesman appears in 1585, in Figliucci, and already before 1540 Guicciardini uses it for a person who knows how to act and speak shrewdly in any situation.^[3] The augmentative politicone “very wily person” is in Tassoni (before 1635), and the scornful politicante “self-seeking amateur politician” from 1834.^[3]

In modern Italian the adjective covers everything that concerns government and public life, with many set phrases (prigioniero politico, asilo politico, elezioni politiche), and the noun names a professional politician.^[5][10][11] The figurative sense “diplomatic, tactically clever” is still alive.^[12][5]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the noun politica.^[3]
• 1312 – Ugo Panziera's letter has the adjective politico.^[2]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses politico for a shrewd, adroit person.^[3]
• 1585 – Figliucci uses it as a noun, “statesman”.^[3][8]
• 1630 – English politico is first recorded.^[8]
• 1834 – Politicante appears in the Milanese press.^[3]
• 1950 – Politicizzare is recorded.^[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. political: concerning politics, the government of the state and the running of public life: Il paese sta attraversando una grave crisi politica.^[5][10][12]
2. Done for political purposes, or taking part in politics: un partito politico, uno sciopero politico.^[5][11]
3. Dealing with politics as a subject: Legge soprattutto le pagine politiche del giornale.^[5][13]
4. Social by nature, in Aristotle's phrase l'uomo è un animale politico.^[5][12]
5. (figurative) Diplomatic, tactful and shrewd.^[12][11]

Noun

1. A politician: one who is professionally engaged in politics: Molti politici hanno commentato la notizia.^[5][10][12]
2. (figurative) A shrewd, diplomatic person: Con lui bisogna fare il politico.^[5][12]

Word family

• politica
• politicante
• politicità
• politicizzare
• politicizzazione
• politicone
• politologo
• spoliticizzare
• politicismo
• politologia
• apolitico
• impolitico
• antipolitico

Related words

• polis
• cittadino
• Latin politicus
• French politique

Usage notes

A rare homograph, politico in metrics, names the Byzantine fifteen-syllable “political verse” (verso politico), from Byzantine Greek politikós in the sense “common, popular”;^[5][12] GRADIT dates it to 1835.^[5][12] Le politiche, short for elezioni politiche, are the elections to the national parliament.^[11][14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 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 k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 791
8. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli