Etymologically
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proprietà

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Pronunciation

  • /pro.prjeˈta/[1]

Forms

proprietà f (invariable)[1] Old forms include proprietate, proprietade, propietade and propietà;[2][3][4][5] propietà is still a popular form.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowed from Latin proprietās (“peculiarity; ownership”), derived from proprius (“one's own, particular”).[2][6][7][4][1] The form “proprietà” arose by the loss of the final syllable of the older Old Italian proprietade and Old Italian proprietate, from the Latin accusative “proprietātem”.[2][5][6] The same word is Old Occitan proprietat, French propriété, Spanish propiedad and Portuguese propriedade;[8] French also has propreté (“cleanliness”).[8]

Latin proprius probably goes back to Proto-Italic *prijo- (“own, dear”) and Proto-Indo-European *priH-o-, the source of Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá, “dear”) and Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis, “free”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Ritmo su sant'Alessio of the early 13th century, with the form proprietate and the sense “a quality or characteristic that distinguishes a person or thing from others”;[2][7][6] GRADIT dates it c. 1225.[2][7][6] Brunetto Latini (before 1294) has proprietade.[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante compares the heaven of Venus to rhetoric “per due proprietadi” (“for two properties”), its clear aspect and its appearing morning and evening.[3] The legal sense, the right to enjoy and dispose of things fully and exclusively, is in Giovanni Villani (before 1348), and the sense “something one owns” in a 14th-century text attributed to Saint Bonaventure.[2] Domenico Cavalca (before 1342) used the word for precision of meaning and the choice of fitting words, a sense alive in proprietà di linguaggio.[2][5]

The sense “neatness, decorum, good taste in dress” appears in Lorenzo Magalotti in 1666 and is found in Goldoni.[2][10] In modern Italian proprietà is also the body of owners of a business, opposed to the workers' unions, and in mathematics a law that follows from a definition, such as the proprietà commutativa.[10][5][7]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – The Ritmo su sant'Alessio has proprietate.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini has proprietade.[2]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for precision of language.[2]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for the right of ownership.[2]
  • 1666 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses it for neatness and decorum.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A property, a characteristic quality of something: Il vetro ha la proprietà di non condurre l'elettricità.[7][4][5]
  2. The capacity of a substance or a drug to produce certain effects: un'erba dalle proprietà calmanti.[7][4][11]
  3. A peculiarity of a person, often ironic.[7][4]
  4. (mathematics) A logical consequence of the definition of an entity: la proprietà associativa.[7][4][11]
  5. Correctness and precision in the use of words: Parla l'inglese con grande proprietà. By extension, decorum and good taste, as in dress.[7][5][10]
  6. (law) ownership: the right to enjoy and dispose of a thing fully and exclusively, within the limits set by law.[7][10][11]
  7. Something owned, especially land or a building; an estate: Hanno una piccola proprietà in collina.[10][12][5]
  8. The owners of a business, as a party: L'incontro tra i sindacati e la proprietà è stato rinviato.[5][10][12]

Word family

Usage notes

Fixed legal phrases include nuda proprietà, ownership without the usufruct, proprietà privata and pubblica, and proprietà letteraria or artistica, the economic rights of an author.[10][11][12] Di proprietà di means “belonging to”.[7][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ 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, 664
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli