studio

Forms

studio m (plural studi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin studium (“zeal, eagerness; study”), from studeō (“to devote oneself, strive after”).^[2][3][4][5] DEI notes that the word spread as a general European word of culture through the medieval universities; Old French estude is from the 12th century.^[6] French étude, Catalan estudi, Spanish estudio and Portuguese estudo are learned too.^[3][7][8] The popular outcome of the Latin word is Old Italian stoggio (“affectation, coaxing”).^[7][8][6]

De Vaan explains the Latin verb as a stative verb from the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- (“to thrust, hit”), the root of tundō (“to beat”): “to be thrusting” became “to strive after”.^[9][3]

The sense “film or television studio” is the American English studio, itself borrowed from Italian: an Italianism of English that came back, partly through French, with a new meaning.^[2][5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, in two senses: the act of studying, the effort to learn, and care or zeal.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Dante invokes Virgil with vagliami il lungo studio e ’l grande amore (“may the long study and great love avail me”).^[11] Boccaccio uses the word for the subject studied, before 1375, and in the 14th century it also named a university, as in the Studio of Bologna.^[2][6] Agnolo Pandolfini uses it for a room for study before 1446, and its diminutive studiolo named both a small study and a writing cabinet in the 16th century.^[2]

Vasari uses it for an artist's preparatory drawing from life before 1574, Fagiuoli for a professional's office before 1742, and Lichtenthal for a musical exercise, the étude, in 1826; the plural gli studi, a person's schooling, is in Gasparo Gozzi before 1786.^[2] The sense “research, monograph” is recorded from 1843.^[2]

English borrowed studio for a painter's or sculptor's work-room (1817–1819), then for photographers' rooms; the film sense is attested from 1911, the radio sense from 1922 and the television sense from 1938, and Italian took these back from the 1930s.^[12][13][2] German Studio (1787) is also from Italian.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses studio for study and for zeal.^[2]
• Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses it for a subject of study.^[2]
• Before 1446 – Agnolo Pandolfini uses it for a study room.^[2]
• Before 1574 – Vasari uses it for an artist's study drawing.^[2]
• Before 1742 – Fagiuoli uses it for a professional's office.^[2]
• 1787 – German Studio is recorded.^[12]
• 1817 – English studio is recorded for an artist's room.^[12]
• 1826 – Lichtenthal uses it for a musical étude.^[2]
• 1911 – English studio is used for film studios.^[12][13]
• 1931 – The Enciclopedia italiana uses studio for a film studio.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. study, the application of the mind to learning: Dedica allo studio tutte le sere.^[4][5][14]
2. A subject that one studies: gli studi giuridici.^[4][14]
3. (plural) Schooling, a course of studies: Ha finito gli studi a vent’anni.^[4][10][14]
4. research on a subject, and the essay or monograph that presents it.^[4][5][10]
5. A preliminary project or plan: essere allo studio, to be under consideration.^[4][14][15]
6. (art) A preparatory drawing or painting.^[4][10]
7. (music) An étude, a piece written as a technical exercise.^[5][10][14]
8. A room for studying, and the office of a professional or the workshop of an artist: lo studio del dentista.^[4][15][2]
9. A film, television, radio or recording studio.^[10][2]
10. (literary) Care, zeal; in a bello studio, on purpose.^[15][2]

Word family

• studiare
• studioso
• studiolo
• studiato
• studiatamente
• studiacchiare
• studicchiare

Related words

• Latin studium
• English studio
• French étude

Usage notes

Common phrases include borsa di studio (scholarship), titolo di studio (educational qualification) and provveditorato agli studi (provincial education office).^[4][14][16]

References

1. ^ a b 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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3663
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana