Etymologically
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sufficiente

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Pronunciation

  • /suf.fiˈt͡ʃɛn.te/[1]

Forms

sufficiente m or f by sense (plural sufficienti)[1] Older and variant forms include sofficiente, sufficente and suffiziente.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin sufficiēns (“sufficing, adequate”), the present participle of sufficiō (“to supply; to be enough”).[5][6][7][1] Nocentini points to the Late Latin use of the participle as an adjective meaning “adequate”.[6] The verb is a compound of sub- (“under”) and faciō (“to make, do”), with the usual weakening of the root vowel /a/ to /i/ in an open inner syllable.[5][8][9]

The sense “conceited, self-satisfied” is a semantic loan from French suffisant, which has had this meaning since before 1613; in the same way sufficienza “haughtiness” follows suffisance (1580 in that sense).[5][2][10] The same Latin word is Spanish suficiente.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Novellino, late 13th century, in the sense “enough for a need, adequate”.[5] The GDLI quotes Old Italian examples such as Faba and Iacopone da Todi, where the word means “capable, adequate to a task”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the noun sufficienza “adequacy” (before 1306, Iacopone) and the phrase a sufficienza “enough”, which Boccaccio writes a sofficienza (1353).[5] Dante has the word in the Paradiso for fingers not equal to untying a knot.[3]

The logical sense, of a condition that is enough by itself for something to happen, is recorded in the Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary (1872); the phrase principio di ragione sufficiente renders Leibniz's principle of sufficient reason.[5][9][11] The French-influenced sense “conceited” is recorded in 1873, also as a noun for a person who puts on airs.[5] Panzini noted in 1905 that D'Azeglio, using the French word in Ettore Fieramosca, remarked that Italians lacked a fitting word for the idea.[5]

In schools sufficienza became the name of the pass mark, six out of ten, by 1908, and sufficiente the corresponding grade by 1940; the same word rates a civil servant's performance as adequate.[5][9][12]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – First record, in the Novellino.[5]
  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the noun sufficienza.[5]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses a sofficienza “enough”.[5]
  • 1872 – The sense “(of a condition) enough by itself” is recorded.[5]
  • 1873 – The sense “conceited”, after French suffisant, is recorded.[5]
  • 1908 – Sufficienza as the school pass mark is recorded.[5]
  • 1940 – Sufficiente as a school grade, and as a noun “what is enough”, is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. sufficient, enough: meeting a need, though not by much: Il pane non era sufficiente per tutti.[7][9][4]
  2. Adequate or suited to a purpose: una stanza sufficiente a ospitare dieci persone.[7][9][11]
  3. (education) Of a mark or grade, reaching the minimum for a pass, six out of ten; of a civil servant's rating, adequate.[7][9][4]
  4. (figurative) conceited, showing an irritating sense of superiority: Mi ha risposto con un'aria sufficiente.[7][9][1]
  5. (logic, mathematics) Of a condition, enough by itself to bring about a fact or prove a statement, condizione necessaria e sufficiente.[7][4][11]

Noun

  1. What is enough or strictly necessary: guadagnare il sufficiente per vivere.[7][5]
  2. A pass mark in school: Ho preso sufficiente in latino.[7][1]

Word family

  • sufficienza
  • sufficientemente
  • insufficiente

Usage notes

The spelling sufficente, without the ⟨i⟩, is common but considered incorrect.[10][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  3. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli