Etymologically
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presenza

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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