Etymologically
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pubblicità

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /pub.bli.t͡ʃiˈta/[1]

Forms

pubblicità f[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French publicité, a derivative of public.[2][3][4][5][1] GRADIT instead treats it as an Italian formation from pubblico with the suffix -ità.[6] DEI dates the French word to 1694 and its commercial sense to the 19th century, and gives publicity from 1791 and its advertising sense from 1904.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Giovanni Battista De Luca in 1673, in the sense “the quality of being public”.[8] Paolo Segneri asks whether certain things are a fit subject “for the tongue of a woman and the publicity of a theatre” (alla lingua d'una femmina, e alla pubblicità d'un teatro).[9][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “spreading among the public” appears in 1798 in the proceedings of the assemblies of the Cisalpine Republic.[8] In 1871 the word could also mean making known what prudence or modesty would keep hidden.[7][9]

The commercial sense came in the 19th century: a political dictionary of 1849 notes that in America, more than in England, newspapers were used for every kind of commercial announcement, and that such publicity was only beginning in Italy.[8] In 1862 the Gazzetta di Napoli took insertions at its ufficio della Pubblicità.[8] The adjective pubblicitario followed in 1931.[7] Today the word also names a single advertisement, in print or on screen.[6][3][4]

Timeline

  • 1673 – Giovanni Battista De Luca uses pubblicità.[8]
  • 1686 – GRADIT's date for the word.[6]
  • 1798 – The sense “spreading among the public” is recorded.[8]
  • 1849 – The commercial sense appears in a political dictionary.[8]
  • 1862 – The Gazzetta di Napoli has an advertising office.[8]
  • 1931 – Pubblicitario is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The fact of being public or open to the public: Lo statuto garantisce la pubblicità delle riunioni del consiglio.[6][10][5]
  2. Spreading of news or information among the public, publicity: Preferirei non dare pubblicità alla faccenda.[6][4][10]
  3. advertising: the activity of making a product or service known to increase its sales: L'azienda spende molto in pubblicità.[6][3][10]
  4. An advertisement, a commercial: Durante il film hanno trasmesso tre pubblicità.[6][3][4][1]

Word family

  • pubblicitario
  • antipubblicità

Usage notes

Piccola pubblicità is the classified advertisements in a newspaper.[3][10][11] Other common expressions are pubblicità ingannevole (misleading advertising), pubblicità occulta (hidden advertising) and pubblicità comparativa.[10][3] A synonym is réclame.[10][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3137
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli