probabilità

Forms

probabilità f (invariable)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian probabilitade and Old Italian provabilità.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin probābilitās (“appearance of truth, probability”), from the accusative probābilitātem.^[3][4][5][1] The Latin noun was coined by Cicero from probābilis (“probable”) with the suffix -tās.^[1][6] The adjective is formed from probō (“to test, approve”) with -bilis.^[6]

Sabatini–Coletti names French probabilité beside the Latin word as the source.^[7] The French word is older: GRADIT dates it to 1370, the GDLI to 1361.^[3][2] Within Italian the word can also be analysed as from Italian probabile + -ità.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from F. Guicciardini, before 1540, in the sense “the quality of being probable”.^[8] GRADIT gives 1551, and Nocentini the middle of the 16th century.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Galileo wished that all the philosophers' proofs had la metà della probabilità di questa (“half the probability of this one”).^[9] The sense of a measure, the degree to which an event is judged likely, is recorded from A. Cocchi (before 1758).^[8] The classical mathematical definition, the ratio between favourable and possible cases, goes back to Laplace in 1814.^[7] In the 19th century Rosmini distinguished a rational probability from a mathematical one, and the calcolo delle probabilità was an established phrase.^[9]

Philosophy speaks of the probability of an opinion whose reasons do not exclude the contrary; the GDLI traces this to the New Academy of Carneades.^[2][10] An old sense, the possibility of a fact being proved, has fallen out of use.^[7]

Timeline

• Before 1540 – F. Guicciardini uses probabilità.^[8]
• 1551 – GRADIT's date of first record.^[3]
• Before 1758 – A. Cocchi uses it for the measure of an event's likelihood.^[8]
• 1814 – Laplace states the classical theory of probability.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. probability, likelihood: the quality or condition of being probable: Gli esperti negano la probabilità di una nuova crisi.^[3][10][5]
2. The degree to which an event is expected; chance, odds: Ha poche probabilità di arrivare in tempo. The phrase con ogni probabilità means in all likelihood.^[3][11][5]
3. (mathematics, statistics) The ratio of favourable to possible cases; a number between 0 and 1 expressing how likely an event is: calcolo delle probabilità, probability theory.^[3][11][7]
4. (philosophy, theology) The character of an opinion held for reasons that do not exclude its contrary.^[3][10]
5. (obsolete) The possibility of a fact being proved.^[7]

Related words

• probabile
• improbabilità
• Latin probabilitas

Usage notes

Probabilità is invariable: la probabilità, le probabilità.^[1][3] Its opposite is improbabilità.^[5][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b 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 Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli