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teoria

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Pronunciation

  • /te.oˈri.a/[1]

Forms

teoria f (plural teorie)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin theōria (“contemplation, speculation”), from Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría), a word that meant both an embassy to a religious festival and, through the shared sense “contemplation” found in Plato, “speculation, theory” in Hellenistic Greek.[2][3][4] The Greek noun comes from θεωρέω (theōréō, “to look at, observe; to attend as an envoy”), from θεωρός (theōrós, “spectator; envoy”);[4][5][6][2][7] DELI and GDLI think it is perhaps a compound of θέα (théa, “sight, spectacle”) and ὁράω (horáō, “to see”), but not with certainty.[4][5][6][2][7] Late Latin, in Jerome, took only the speculative senses.[2][8] The same word is French théorie and Spanish teoría.[3]

The sense “procession, long file” has been put down to the French word, used so from 1907, but DELI argues that the Italian dates point rather to a direct literary borrowing from Greek.[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI dates teoria to the 14th century, in a translation of Saint Jerome.[8] Zingarelli dates it to 1584, and GDLI quotes Giordano Bruno on forming “teoria più accomodata e giusta” (“a more fitting and correct theory”) of the earth's place in the universe.[5][7] DELI's first dates are before 1642, in Galileo, for the precepts that guide a practice, and before 1698, in Francesco Redi, for the systematic statement of the principles of a science.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the purists preferred the older teorica: in 1831 Lissoni advised good writers to use it rather than teoria.[2][10] The historical sense, a delegation sent by a Greek city to festivals and games, is recorded in 1829, in Marchi.[2][8]

From this the aesthetes of the late 19th century made teoria a literary word for a procession or a long line of people or things: Guerrini wrote in 1878 of “una bianca teoria di vergini” (“a white procession of maidens”), and D'Annunzio and Carducci followed.[2] In everyday use the word also means an opinion, a personal way of seeing things.[4][11][12]

Timeline

  • 14th century – DEI dates teoria to a translation of Saint Jerome.[8]
  • 1584 – Giordano Bruno uses the word.[5][7]
  • Before 1642 – Galileo uses it for the precepts that guide a practice.[2][4]
  • Before 1698 – Redi uses it for the principles of a science.[2]
  • 1829 – Marchi records the historical sense “Greek sacred embassy”.[2]
  • 1878 – Guerrini uses teoria for “procession”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A theory, the systematic statement of the principles of a branch of knowledge; a set of hypotheses that explains phenomena: la teoria dell'evoluzione.[4][11][12]
  2. The rules and principles on which a practical activity rests: Prima della lezione in piscina c'è un'ora di teoria.[4][11][12]
  3. Abstract thought as opposed to practice, in teoria, in principle: In teoria il treno arriva alle otto.[4][11][6]
  4. A way of thinking, a personal view: Mio nonno ha strane teorie sul tempo.[4][11][12]
  5. (history) In ancient Greece, an official delegation sent by a city to religious festivals or games.[4][11][12]
  6. (literary) A long line, a procession: una teoria di lumi lungo il fiume.[4][12][5]

Word family

  • teorico
  • teoricamente
  • teorizzare
  • teorizzazione
  • teoretico
  • teoretica
  • teoricità
  • teorema
  • teorica
  • Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría)
  • French théorie

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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b 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 k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  7. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 912
  8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3755
  9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 987
  10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 986
  11. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse