segretario

Forms

segretario m (plural segretari, feminine segretaria, relational adjective segretariale or segretariesco)^[1] Older forms are secretario (Bembo), segretaro (Boccaccio), sagretario, segretano and segretale (Giovanni Villani).^[2][3][4] The feminine is segretaria.^[5][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin sēcrētārius (“confidential officer”), a learned word.^[6][7][8][1] The Medieval Latin noun, recorded in Salimbene (1281–1288), is a derivative of Latin sēcrētum (“a secret”), properly the one to whom secrets are entrusted.^[6][7][5] GRADIT and the GDLI trace it further to Late Latin, where in the 5th century “secretarius” was an official in the emperor's confidence.^[8][4] Latin “sēcrētus” is the past participle of sēcernō (“to separate, set apart”).^[6][9] In Italian the word could be analysed as from Italian segreto + -ario.^[1][10]

The learned word is shared with French secrétaire.^[11] Prati thought that “segretario di stato”, the pope's minister, may have come from Spanish secretario de estado.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Boccaccio, before 1375, in the form secretario, for the trusted confidant of a prince: commenting on Pier della Vigna in the Inferno, he says that as the emperor's secretary he could almost be called the emperor himself.^[6][8][4]

Semantic evolution

In its oldest sense the secretary was an official, sometimes an adviser, of a sovereign or a state, entrusted with letters and confidential business;^[8][5][12] Machiavelli, who served in the chancery of the Florentine Signoria, is still called il segretario fiorentino.^[8][5][12] Old Italian also used the word as an adjective, “intimate, familiar”, of close companions.^[3] The segretariato, the office of secretary, is recorded before 1498, and segreteria before 1535.^[6][7]

Francesco Redi, in 1666, uses the word for anyone attached to a person or an office with confidential executive duties, and in his Bacco in Toscana the secretary records the acts of a meeting.^[6][3] The modern senses grew from these: the administrative officer of a town or school, the minutes secretary of a meeting, and the head of a party, union or international body, as in segretario generale.^[8][5][13] Segretario galante was the title of books of model love letters.^[12][14] In zoology the word names the secretary bird.^[1][13]

Timeline

• 1281–1288 – Medieval Latin secretarius is recorded in Salimbene.^[6]
• Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses secretario.^[6][8]
• Before 1498 – Segretariato is recorded in Vespasiano da Bisticci.^[6]
• Before 1535 – Segreteria appears in Francesco Berni.^[6][7]
• 17th century – Sottosegretario “under-secretary” is formed.^[7]
• 1666 – Francesco Redi uses the word in the sense of an assistant with confidential duties.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A trusted official, sometimes an adviser, of a sovereign or prince, with high and often confidential duties.^[8][12][15]
2. A secretary: an employee who does confidential work of various kinds for a superior in a firm, office or professional practice: Il segretario del direttore ha fissato l'appuntamento.^[8][5][13]
3. In a public body, the officer who manages its administration, correspondence and records: il segretario comunale.^[8][13][15]
4. The person who takes the minutes of a meeting or assembly.^[8][5][13]
5. In schools, the employee in charge of administrative work.^[8][15]
6. With a further qualifier, an assistant in film, television or publishing: segretario di produzione, segretario di redazione.^[8][12]
7. The leader of a political party, trade union or international organization: il segretario del sindacato.^[8][13][1]
8. (zoology) The secretary bird.^[8][13][1]

Word family

• segretariato
• segreteria
• sottosegretario
• vicesegretario
• segretariale

Related words

• segreto
• secernere
• Latin sēcrētus
• French secrétaire

Usage notes

Segretario “secluded place; secret archive; sacristy” is a learned word from Latin secretarium, used in the 14th century and by Vincenzo Borghini in the 16th.^[16][4] Segretario “writing desk with drawers” adapts French secrétaire and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries, by Goldoni among others.^[4] Segretario is also used of women in titles of office (la segretario generale).^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 906
3. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3443