stato

Forms

stato m (plural stati)^[1] Old forms include stado, staio, stao and statu.^[2] In the political sense it is often written Stato.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin status (“standing, position, condition”), a noun formed from stō (“to stand”).^[4][5][6][3] DEI and Prati call it a learned word, while Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^[7][8][1] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tus.^[1][9]

The political sense goes back to Latin phrases such as ⟨status civitatis⟩ and ⟨status rei publicae⟩, “the condition of the commonwealth”: DELI follows Goelzer, who finds the new sense from Tertullian on, and Nocentini and GRADIT explain it the same way.^[5][4][3] The same Latin noun is Old French estat in the 12th century, French état and Spanish estado, and through Medieval Latin status it gave English state and German Staat.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to 1219, in the sense of a person's condition or position in society.^[3] DELI's earliest sense is “economic and social condition”, in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Dante, before 1321, uses stato both for a way of being and, according to DEI, for a form of government.^[5][7] Migliorini, quoted by DELI, explains that in politics the word still meant “regime” in the 14th century; from the late 15th century it came more and more to mean the territory over which a lordship was held, and Machiavelli did much to fix this sense, which became common across Europe in the 16th century.^[5] DEI finds “country ruled by a government” in Martelli in the 16th century.^[7]

The sense “standing still” is in Bembo before 1547, the chemical sense stato naturale in Lorenzo Magalotti in 1666, and “state of health” in the Milanese press of 1812.^[5] DELI notes French models for affare di stato, capo dello stato and stato civile, and Zingarelli calls stato dell'arte a calque of English state of the art.^[5][10] Derivatives followed the political sense: statista in Florio's dictionary of 1611, statistica in 1812 and statale in 1883.^[5]

Timeline

• 1219 – First record of stato for a person's condition.^[3]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses it for economic and social condition.^[5]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a way of being and for a polity.^[5]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for the territory of a state.^[5]
• 1611 – Statista is recorded in Florio.^[5]
• 1666 – Magalotti uses stato in chemistry.^[5]
• 1812 – Statistica and stato “state of health” are recorded.^[5]
• 1883 – Statale is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. condition, state, the way a thing or person is at a given time: la casa era in pessimo stato.^[3][6][11]
2. A physical or mental condition: era in stato di shock.^[3][11][12]
3. A person's position in society, in the family or under the law; rank: stato civile, stato di famiglia.^[3][11][10]
4. (physics, chemistry) The form in which a substance is found: stato solido, liquido, gassoso.^[6][11][13]
5. (often capitalized) The state as a political body exercising sovereignty over a territory, and its administration: i dipendenti dello Stato.^[3][6][1]
6. The territory of a state; a member state of a federation: gli Stati Uniti.^[3][1]
7. (grammar) Being at rest, as opposed to motion: complemento di stato in luogo.^[10][13][12]

Word family

• statale
• statalismo
• statalizzare
• statista
• statistica
• statistico
• statuale
• statolatria
• statino

Related words

• stare
• stazione
• statuto
• Latin status
• French état

Usage notes

Stato is also the past participle of stare, which serves as the past participle of essere in compound tenses: sono stato, è stata.^[10][13][3] The euphemism in stato interessante means “pregnant”.^[12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 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
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3621
8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 948
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana