scientifico

Forms

scientifico (feminine scientifica, masculine plural scientifici, feminine plural scientifiche)^[1] Old and dialect forms include scentifico and siantifico.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin scientificus (“producing knowledge”), a learned word first used by Boethius.^[3][4][5][1] GRADIT gives the immediate source as Medieval Latin.^[6] The Latin adjective is formed from scientia (“knowledge”) and a derivative of faciō (“to make, to do”), on the model of beneficus (“beneficent”) and munificus (“generous”).^[4][7][2][8] DEI derives it instead from the present participle sciēns (“knowing”), of sciō (“to know”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Ottimo commento on Dante's Commedia, of the 14th century, which says that gluttony draws the mind away from speculation and “scientific things” (scientifiche cose).^[3][2] Zingarelli dates the word to 1308.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Until the rise of modern science, scientifico referred to every kind of intellectual and speculative activity and to the theoretical disciplines; only gradually did it narrow to the experimental and natural sciences.^[2] In the 14th century, in Francesco da Buti, the word could also mean a learned person, a scholar.^[5][9] Tommaseo, in the 19th century, objected that a book or a language should not be called scientifico, which properly meant “that makes knowledge”, but usage had already gone the other way.^[10]

Modern uses contrast the sciences with the humanities, as in studi scientifici and the liceo scientifico, a secondary school with a scientific curriculum, often called simply lo scientifico.^[6][7][8] La scientifica is the forensic branch of the police.^[9][8]

Timeline

• 1308 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[9]
• 14th century – The Ottimo commento uses scientifiche cose.^[3][2]
• 14th century – The adverb scientificamente is recorded.^[5]
• 20th century – Scientificizzare “to make scientific” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. scientific: of or relating to science and its methods: Mancano ancora prove scientifiche per questa ipotesi.^[6][7][11]
2. Dealing with science, for specialists rather than the general public: una rivista scientifica.^[6][7][8]
3. Rigorous, systematic, methodical: Ha organizzato il trasloco in modo scientifico.^[6][11][12]
4. Relating to the natural and exact sciences, as opposed to the humanities: materie scientifiche.^[6][7][8]

Noun

1. (education, colloquial) The liceo scientifico, a secondary school with a scientific curriculum.^[6][8][12]

Word family

• scientificamente
• scientificità
• scientificizzare
• antiscientifico
• prescientifico
• parascientifico
• scientifismo

Related words

• scienza
• scienziato
• Latin scientificus

Usage notes

Scopone scientifico is a variety of the card game scopone in which all forty cards are dealt to the players.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3398
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 Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli