utilizzare

Forms

utilizzare (first-person singular present utilìzzo, first-person singular past historic utilizzài, past participle utilizzàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian utile (“useful”) + -izzare, on the model of French utiliser, recorded in 1792.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DELI and Devoto's Avviamento treat it as taken from the French verb, while Treccani and Wiktionary derive it from the adjective alone.^[7][8][9][1] DEI gives the French dates as 1792 for the verb, 1842 for utilisable and 1798 for utilisation.^[10] Wiktionary, by contrast, lists the French verb among the descendants of the Italian one.^[1] DELI regards the noun utilizzo as an Italian formation.^[7]

The adjective is from Latin ūtilis (“useful”), from ūtor (“to use”).^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first uses are intransitive or in the old sense “to benefit, bring advantage to”: DELI cites an example by Lorenzo Magalotti (before 1712), quoted by Viani, and the fourth Crusca dictionary (1738).^[7][3] Tommaseo quotes Minucci: il modo di utilizzare il principe con poco danno de' sudditi “the way to benefit the prince with little harm to his subjects”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to make useful, put to profit” is recorded in 1802, in Cormon and Manni's dictionary under French utiliser, and DEI dates “to draw profit from something” to 1829.^[7][10] The purists were cool: Tommaseo (1879) noted that some disliked the verb, though Magalotti had used it, and advised against growing fond of it in the new sense.^[11][7] The old sense “to benefit” fell out of use.^[11][6] Today the verb is a common word for using something to advantage, and its family includes utilizzabile and utilizzazione (both 1886).^[10]

Timeline

• Before 1712 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses the verb.^[7][3]
• 1738 – The fourth Crusca dictionary records it, intransitive, “to bring advantage”.^[7]
• 1792 – French utiliser is recorded.^[7][3]
• 1802 – The transitive sense “to put to profit” is recorded.^[7][2]
• 1829 – DEI's date for “to draw profit from something”.^[10]
• 1879 – Tommaseo records objections to the verb.^[7][11]
• 1886 – Utilizzabile and utilizzazione are recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To use, make use of, put to good use: Ho utilizzato il pane raffermo per le polpette.^[3][4][5][1]
2. To employ (a person) usefully, make use of someone: Il comune utilizza i volontari per la vigilanza dei parchi.^[3][4][6]
3. (obsolete) To benefit, bring advantage to.^[6][12][11]

Word family

• utilizzo
• utilizzabile
• utilizzazione
• utilizzatore
• riutilizzare
• sottoutilizzare

Related words

• utile
• utilità
• French utiliser

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3967
11. ^ a b c d e Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli