Etymologically
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storia

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈstɔ.rja/[1]

Forms

storia f (plural storie)[1] The older and literary form is Old Italian istoria.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Italian istoria, borrowed from Latin historia (“inquiry; history; story”), from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía, “inquiry; account, history”).[2][5][6][1] The Greek noun is formed from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “one who knows, witness”), from the same root as οἶδα (oîda, “I know”) and as Latin videō (“to see”): the word properly meant knowledge gained by seeing.[5][7][3][8] That root is Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”).[7][9] The same Latin word gave French histoire and Spanish historia.[5]

The first ⟨i⟩ of the old form was felt as a prosthetic vowel, the kind added before ⟨s⟩ and another consonant, and was dropped.[7] Tommaseo–Bellini noted in 1873 that the shorter form had become more common, though the longer one was still used for a narrative of true events.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest records are in the form istoria, in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250, for a series of events, especially personal ones.[2][6] The form storia appears in this sense in Iacopone da Todi before 1306.[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “systematic account of the memorable events of human communities” is first found as istoria in Petrarch, before 1374, and as storia in Paolo Segneri in 1690.[2] A storia was also a story painted or carved, and the verb storiare meant both writing and painting stories.[10] Iacopone already used the plural for fussing and evasions, as in far tante storie in Machiavelli, who also used storia for “matter, business”.[2] The sense “tall tale, invention” is in Arrigo Caterino Davila before 1630, and Manzoni's Promessi sposi of 1840 has storie for lies told by rogues.[2]

The history of a single field, such as literature or the arts, is recorded from 1824.[2] Storico (as istorico) is used for a historian by Petrarch, and as an adjective from 1550;[2][5] storiella “anecdote, joke” is in Anton Maria Salvini, and storicismo was coined in 1887 after German Historismus.[2][5] In modern colloquial use a storia is also a love affair.[1][11]

Timeline

  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses istoria for a series of events.[2][6]
  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the form storia.[2]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses istoria for a historical account.[2]
  • Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses far tante storie and the sense “matter”.[2]
  • 1690 – Paolo Segneri uses storia for a historical account.[2]
  • 1824 – The history of a discipline is recorded.[2]
  • 1840 – Manzoni uses storie for lies.[2]
  • 1887 – Antonio Labriola uses storicismo.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. history, the course of human events through time: La storia non si ripete mai allo stesso modo.[6][7][12]
  2. The systematic account, study and critical interpretation of the past of peoples and nations; also a period of it, as storia antica, storia moderna.[6][4][7]
  3. History as a school subject or a university course: Domani ho l'interrogazione di storia.[6][7]
  4. The history of one field of social or cultural life, as storia dell'arte, storia della musica.[6][12]
  5. A work of history.[6][7][12]
  6. A true, documented fact.[6][12]
  7. A story, an account of events; the plot of a novel, play or film.[6][7]
  8. A series of events in someone's life; an affair, a matter.[6][7][2]
  9. (colloquial) A love affair or relationship: Hanno avuto una storia l'estate scorsa.[1][11]
  10. (colloquial) A made-up tale, a lie; in the plural, fuss and objections, as in fare storie.[6][2][11]

Word family

  • storicamente
  • storicismo
  • storicità
  • storicizzare
  • storico
  • storiella
  • storiografia
  • storiografico
  • storiografo
  • storicista
  • protostoria
  • istoriare
  • preistoria
  • storiare

Usage notes

Passare alla storia means “to go down in history”, and fare storie “to make a fuss”.[6][12] An unrelated storia (also stuora or stoia), recorded in 1263, was an old form of stuoia “mat”; it is the source of French store “blind”.[13]

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 m n o p q r s t u Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  4. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e 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 l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 229
  10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 953
  11. ^ a b c Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it