Etymologically
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università

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 21:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /u.ni.ver.siˈta/[1]

Forms

università f (invariable)[1] Old Italian also had universitade and Old Italian universitate.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ūniversitās (“the whole, totality”), a learned word.[4][3][5][1] The Latin noun is formed from ūniversus (“whole, entire”), literally “turned into one”, from ūnus (“one”) and versus (“turned”).[6][1][7]

Late Latin used the word for a body or corporation of people, and Medieval Latin for the guild of masters and students that became the university.[5][8][1] The word is learned in every Romance language: French université, Spanish universidad, Portuguese universidade.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to about 1304;[3][10] Francesco da Barberino uses universitade for the whole people of a city or state.[3][10] GRADIT's date is before 1320.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant totality, the whole of people or things: Cavalca speaks of “the università of creatures”, and Boccaccio of nearly the whole università of men.[5][11] A Prato statute of 1347 uses it for a guild of shoemakers, and about 1350 the Italian Crescenzi speaks of the università of the scholars of Bologna, the first record of the sense “university”.[12][10]

Medieval guilds, such as the università dei mercanti, are now a historical sense, and the università agraria was an association for the common use of land.[3][13] The università popolare, for spreading higher learning among working people, appears in 1900.[12] Universitario is the adjective.[1][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1304 – Zingarelli's date for the word.[3]
  • Before 1320 – GRADIT's date.[4]
  • 1347 – A Prato statute uses it for a guild.[12]
  • c. 1350 – The Italian Crescenzi uses it for a university.[12][10]
  • 1900 – Università popolare is recorded.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A university, an institution of higher education and research divided into faculties and departments, which grants degrees: Si è iscritta all'università di Padova.[4][14][8]
  2. The building or buildings of a university: Ci vediamo davanti all'università.[4][14]
  3. (history) In the Middle Ages, a guild or corporation: l'università dei tintori.[4][14][8]
  4. (obsolete) Totality, the whole of people or things.[4][8][3]

Word family

  • universitario

Usage notes

Università is invariable: le università.[4][1] Università della terza età is a programme of courses for older people.[4][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  10. ^ a b c d e Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ 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