Etymologically
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progetto

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Pronunciation

  • /proˈd͡ʒɛt.to/[1]

Forms

progetto m (plural progetti)[1] Older forms, now out of use, are proièto and proiètto.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French projet, first recorded about 1460 in the form Middle French pourget and in its present spelling in 1549, a noun from the verb projeter (“to plan”), first recorded about 1400.[3][4][5][1] The French verb comes from Latin prōiectō (“to reproach; to expose”), an intensive of prōiciō (“to throw forward”), from prō (“forward”) and iaciō (“to throw”).[3] Nocentini adds that in military use the French verb came to mean “to lay an ambush”, and, from this “to plan an action”.[4] The Italian verb progettare was taken from French too, recorded in John Florio's dictionary of 1598.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Giornale dell'Assedio di Montalcino, the journal of the siege of Montalcino, in 1553, with the sense “idea, intention”, often vague or hard to carry out: on such a plan, Giordano Orsini laid an ambush for the enemy at one of the gates.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “ordered and detailed plan of work for carrying something out” is in Lione Pascoli in 1730–1736.[3] Progetto di legge, a bill laid before parliament, is recorded in 1793, and progettista, the author of a plan, in the Verri brothers in 1767.[3] From the 18th century the word belongs above all to architecture and engineering, with progettare “to design a building” recorded in 1776.[3] Recent Italian has the employment phrases lavoro a progetto and contratto a progetto, for work under a fixed-term project contract.[6][2]

Timeline

  • About 1460 – French pourget is recorded.[3]
  • 1553 – Italian progetto appears in the journal of the siege of Montalcino.[3]
  • 1598 – The verb progettare is recorded by John Florio.[3]
  • 1730–1736 – Lione Pascoli uses it for a detailed plan of work.[3]
  • 1767 – The Verri brothers use progettista.[3]
  • 1793 – Progetto di legge is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A plan, an organized and detailed scheme for carrying out a work or an activity: il progetto del nuovo ospedale.[5][6][7]
  2. The technical documents of such a plan, the drawings and calculations of a building or engineering work; a design.[5][7]
  3. An idea, intention, something one plans to do: Che progetti hai per l'estate?[5][6][8]
  4. A fanciful plan, hard to carry out.[6][8]
  5. (law) Progetto di legge, a bill laid before parliament.[6][8]

Word family

  • progettare
  • progettista
  • progettistica
  • progettistico
  • progettuale
  • controprogetto

Usage notes

Avere in progetto is to plan to do something, and essere in progetto is to be at the planning stage.[5][6][8]

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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana