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telefonata

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word telefonata

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1908

Pronunciation

  • /te.le.foˈna.ta/[1]

Forms

telefonata f (plural telefonate)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from telefonare (“to telephone”) with the suffix -ata, the feminine of the past participle used as a noun.[2][3][4][1] The verb (1886) is from telefono, which came from French téléphone, made of Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off”) and Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice”), and spread through English telephone after Bell's patent.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sabatini–Coletti date the word to 1908 and Zingarelli to 1911.[3][6] In 1911 L'Illustrazione Italiana reports that the first news of a terrible accident came by a telefonata from Tor di Quinto.[7] Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli give 1918.[5][2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the same sense, a call made by telephone or the conversation itself.[2][8] Dictionaries distinguish telefonata urbana, within one city's network, and interurbana, between networks, and Treccani names the telefonata anonima, made by someone who hides his name.[6][9][4] The diminutive telefonatina is a short call.[7][4]

Timeline

  • 1886 – The verb telefonare is recorded.[5][2]
  • 1908 – Sabatini–Coletti's date for telefonata.[3]
  • 1911 – L'Illustrazione Italiana uses the word.[7][6]
  • 1918 – Nocentini's and GRADIT's date.[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A phone call: Aspetto una telefonata dal medico.[2][8][3]
  2. A telephone conversation: una telefonata di due ore con la nonna.[2][8][3]

Word family

  • telefonatina

Usage notes

Telefonata is also the feminine of the participle telefonato, which in sport describes a weak, easily read shot.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
Cite this entry

“Telefonata.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/telefonata. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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