procedura

Forms

procedura f (plural procedure)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French procédure, a derivative of procéder (“to proceed”), which comes from Latin prōcēdō (“to go forward”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The French word is recorded from the 14th century, and in its legal sense from the 17th.^[7][6] GRADIT treats the Italian word as formed on procedere with the suffix -ura, comparing the French.^[8]

The sense “sequence of instructions” in computing is a calque of English procedure.^[3][9] English had the word from 1611, and as a legal term from 1676, and German used Prozedur as a chancery term from 1638.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to 1624.^[2] DELI's first record is from 1638, in G. Giustinian, with the sense “manner of proceeding”.^[10][8]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, the formalities to be observed in court proceedings and the law of procedure itself, is recorded in Goldoni in 1747.^[10] Before that, documents of the grand-ducal administration of Livorno of 1716 and 1721 used the form processura.^[10] DEI dates the legal sense to 1829, and gives the 18th-century writer Lami for “manner of proceeding”.^[7]

Tommaseo–Bellini marked the general sense “way of behaving” as obsolete, quoting Lami (Le sue procedure dimostrano che è d'accordo con Trascomachi, “his proceedings show that he is in league with Trascomachi”), and suggested processo could replace the legal codice di procedura.^[11] The GDLI quotes Beccaria, who complained that few had examined la crudeltà delle pene e l'irregolarità delle procedure criminali (“the cruelty of punishments and the irregularity of criminal procedures”).^[6] The word later spread to administration, aviation, business management and computing.^[8][12][3]

Timeline

• 14th century – French procédure is first recorded.^[7][6]
• 1611 – English procedure is first recorded.^[6]
• 1624 – The first Italian date in Nocentini.^[2]
• 1638 – G. Giustinian uses procedura for “manner of proceeding”.^[10][8]
• 1638 – German Prozedur is recorded as a chancery term.^[6]
• 1676 – English procedure is first recorded as a legal term.^[6]
• 1716 and 1721 – The form processura appears in Livorno documents.^[10]
• 1747 – Goldoni uses procedura for legal formalities.^[10]
• 1829 – DEI's date for the legal sense.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. procedure: the set of rules, especially administrative, to be followed to reach an end: Per il rimborso c'è una procedura lunga e complicata.^[8][3][4]
2. The formalities to be followed in carrying out an action: errore di procedura, an error of procedure.^[8][13]
3. (law) The rules governing civil or criminal trials, procedural law: codice di procedura civile, codice di procedura penale.^[8][4][13]
4. (aviation) A series of operations and manoeuvres to be carried out: procedura di avvicinamento, approach procedure.^[8][12]
5. (computing) A sequence of instructions for a task, a named block of a program that can be called repeatedly.^[3][4][12]
6. (business) A logical sequence of operations for solving a complex management problem.^[8][13]
7. (uncommon) A way of proceeding or behaving.^[8][13][4]

Word family

• procedurale
• procedurista

Related words

• procedere
• procedimento
• processo
• French procédure
• English procedure
• Latin prōcēdō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 436
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3088
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli