questione

Forms

questione f (plural questioni)^[1] The older form quistione is now literary or Tuscan.^[2][3] Gubbio has the Umbrian form chistione.^[4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin quaestiō (“inquiry; matter in dispute”), from the past participle of quaerō (“to seek; to ask”).^[2][5][6][1] DEI calls it a learned word of philosophy and law.^[4] The same Latin verb gave the inherited chiedere.^[2][5] The word is also French question, recorded in the 12th century, and Spanish cuestión.^[4][5]

Questionario is French questionnaire.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, in the form quistione, with the senses “problem, question” and “quarrel”.^[2][6] Brunetto Latini, before 1294, has it for a dispute or controversy.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word had a wide range: doubt, investigation, a treatise in question form, a lawsuit or wrangle, and even judicial torture.^[4] The political sense, a problem whose solution is debated, appears in the Milanese press in 1833 with la quistione belgio-olandese; a 19th-century dictionary explains it as a grave and thorny matter that never finds a solution, citing the Italian, German and Eastern questions.^[2] Many fixed phrases followed this model, among them questione meridionale and questione della lingua.^[6]

Questione di lana caprina is a dispute over trifles, and questione di vita o di morte a matter of life and death.^[6]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Quistione in the Novellino.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a dispute, and questionare “to dispute”.^[2]
• 14th century – The senses “doubt”, “treatise”, “lawsuit” and “torture” appear.^[4]
• 1833 – The political sense, la quistione belgio-olandese.^[2]
• 1882 – Questionario is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dispute or debate: Sulla data del manoscritto la questione è ancora aperta.^[6][3]
2. A matter or issue that needs to be examined: È una faccenda delicata, ne parleremo con calma.^[6][3][1]
3. A historical, social or political problem that is debated: la questione meridionale.^[6][2]
4. A quarrel, an argument: venire a questione con qualcuno.^[6][1]
5. An objection or doubt: mettere in questione.^[6]
6. essere questione di: to be a matter of: Ormai è solo questione di tempo.^[6]

Word family

• questionare
• questionario

Related words

• chiedere
• quesito
• Latin quaestio

Usage notes

In questione means “in question, under discussion”, and fuori questione “out of the question”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3178
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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