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presenza

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word presenza

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1253, Venice
Borrowed from
Latin praesentia
Ultimate origin
Latin praesēns
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin praesens
Italian presente
Latin praesentia
French présence
Italian presenza
From the same root
English presence ← praesentia

Pronunciation

  • /preˈzɛn.t͡sa/[1]

Forms

presenza f (plural presenze)[1] The old form presenzia survives in literature; other old spellings are presència, presènsia, prexènsia and prezènsia.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praesentia (“presence”), a learned word.[5][6][4][2] The Latin noun is formed from praesēns (“present”) with the abstract suffix -ia.[1][7] French présence and Spanish presencia come from it in the same way.[5][8]

The phrase “fare atto di presenza” “to put in an appearance” is a calque of French faire acte de présence, recorded in Italian from 1890.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word to the second half of the 12th century.[5][6] DELI's first dated record is a Venetian presencia of 1253 in the sense of someone's presence, as in “in the presence of”.[10] Dante, before 1321, uses it for being in a place: in the Vita nuova he is asked why he loves a lady whose presence he cannot bear.[10][2]

Semantic evolution

Petrarch, before 1374, used the word for outward appearance, as in bella presenza, a sense still current.[10][6] The sense “existence” of something in a place or a substance, such as gas underground or germs in water, is dated from 1884.[10][6]

Modern Italian has added many technical and figurative uses: an appearance in a national team or a competition, the visitors registered at a show or in hotels, the role of a country in an organisation, and a mysterious presence in a haunted house.[6][11][4] Office language has the foglio di presenza and the gettone di presenza, a fee for attending meetings, and presenza di spirito is presence of mind.[12][6]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 12th century – The word is first recorded.[5][6]
  • 1253 – Venetian presencia appears in the sense “presence of someone”.[10]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for being in a place.[10]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for outward appearance.[10]
  • 1884 – The sense “existence” is recorded.[10]
  • 1890 – Fare atto di presenza is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. presence, the fact of being in a certain place or taking part in something: La sua presenza alla cena mi ha sorpreso.[6][3][11]
  2. (sports) An appearance in a match or competition: Ha trenta presenze in serie A.[6]
  3. A role or participation in a field or organisation: la presenza italiana in Africa.[6]
  4. A person present, especially in a count of visitors or guests: Le presenze negli alberghi sono calate.[6][11][4]
  5. A mysterious being, such as a ghost or spirit: strane presenze nella villa.[6][11]
  6. The existence of something in a place or a substance: la presenza di nebbia sull'autostrada.[6][11][4]
  7. Outward appearance, bearing: un giovane di bella presenza.[6][11][4]

Word family

  • presenziale
  • presenzialismo
  • presenzialista
  • presenziare
  • compresenza

Usage notes

In presenza di and alla presenza di mean “in the presence of, before”;[3][4] di presenza means “in person”.[3][4] Presenza di spirito is “presence of mind”, and fare atto di presenza is “to put in an appearance” for form's sake.[12][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 233
  3. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3069
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Presenza.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/presenza. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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