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pratica

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈpra.ti.ka/[1]

Forms

pratica f (plural pratiche)[1] Old forms include Old Italian pradica, Old Italian practica and Old Italian prattica.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of the adjective pratico used as a noun.[4][5][2][1] Nocentini and DEI instead derive it directly from Late Latin practicē (“practical activity”),[6][7] which comes from Ancient Greek πρακτική (praktikḗ, “practical (science)”), the feminine of πρακτικός (praktikós, “active, practical”), from πρᾶξις (prâxis, “action”).[8][6][9] DEI notes that Cassian, about 400, still writes the word in Greek letters.[7] It is a learned word, and DEI and GDLI see a northern origin in its single /t/, against the southern form with /tt/.[7][3]

The same word is French pratique, already used by Brunetto Latini, and Spanish práctica; it also passed into Turkish pratika.[6][7] The bureaucratic senses “negotiations” and “file of documents” came from pratiques in the plural.[8][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Brunetto Latini's Rettorica (Florence, about 1260–1261), where it is the part of philosophy that teaches conduct: Pratica è per dimostrare... ciò che debbia uomo fare e che lasciare, “Practice is for showing what a man must do and what he must leave undone”.[2][3] DELI dates this sense to before 1294.[8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “activity aimed at doing something concretely” is in Giovanni Villani before 1348, “skill in using a tool or technique” in Cennino Cennini about 1390, and mettere in pratica “to put into practice” in Simone Serdini before 1420.[8] Old Italian also used it for direct experience and for habitual conduct.[2]

In the plural the word meant the steps taken to reach an aim, the negotiations (Sanudo, before 1536), and, from 1838 in the Milanese press the documents of an affair, a use that purists blamed on French administration.[8] The literary language also used it for familiarity with a person and for a love affair, and pratica once meant a regular customer.[11][12] The proverb val più la pratica che la grammatica sets experience above rules.[11][13]

Timeline

  • About 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses pratica in his Rettorica.[2]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “concrete activity”.[8]
  • About 1390 – Cennino Cennini uses it for “skill, experience”.[8]
  • Before 1420 – Mettere in pratica is recorded.[8]
  • Before 1536 – Marino Sanudo uses the plural for “negotiations”.[8]
  • 1838 – The sense “file of documents” appears in the Milanese press.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. practice, as opposed to theory: Sulla carta il progetto funziona, nella pratica molto meno.[4][5][10][1]
  2. The regular exercise of an activity: La pratica dello yoga lo ha aiutato molto.[4][5][10]
  3. Experience, skill; familiarity with a place or a thing: Dopo un mese ha già preso pratica con il nuovo programma.[4][10][11][1]
  4. Professional training, apprenticeship: Fa pratica in uno studio di architetti.[4][5][13][1]
  5. Custom, usual procedure: Nel nostro ufficio è pratica chiedere sempre due preventivi.[4][5][10]
  6. An act or rite: pratiche religiose, pratiche magiche.[4][10][11]
  7. (bureaucracy, often in the plural) The formalities and paperwork needed for a purpose: Ho già avviato le pratiche per la pensione.[10][11][4]
  8. A file, dossier, a case being dealt with: La pratica è ferma da mesi sulla scrivania del funzionario.[10][11][1]
  9. (literary) Familiarity with a person; an affair.[11][12]

Word family

  • praticaccia
  • praticare
  • pratico
  • praticante
  • prassi
  • French pratique

Usage notes

In pratica means “in practice, practically, in effect”, and mettere in pratica “to put into practice”.[11][13][5] Fare pratica is to train or to serve an apprenticeship.[13][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3049
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  13. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana