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visita

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word visita

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1535, Francesco Berni
Borrowed from
Latin visito
Ultimate origin
Latin videō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin visito
English visit
French visiter
Italian visita
From the same root
Latin visitatio ← visito
French visite ← visiter

Pronunciation

  • /ˈvi.zi.ta/[1]

Forms

visita f (plural visite)[1]

Etymology

It is a noun formed from the verb visitare “to visit”.[2][3][4][1] The verb is a learned word, recorded from the 12th century, borrowed from Latin vīsitō (“to go to see often; to visit”), a frequentative of vīsō (“to go to see”), itself formed on videō (“to see”), the source of vedere.[2][3][5][1] Latin already used the verb for visiting the sick, and Church Latin gave it further senses.[2]

The Latin noun vīsitātiō had the sense “a visit”, kept in the Gospel scene of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, but in common use the Italian noun formed from the verb replaced it.[2] DEI compares French visite (1580).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to Francesco Berni, before 1535, where visita is a bishop's pastoral visit;[4][2] DELI has the general sense “the act of visiting” from Giovanni Della Casa, before 1556, and Annibal Caro, before 1566.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Della Casa complained that visits gave him no peace even at Murano, and Tasso and Bandello use the word for courtesy calls between nobles.[7][8] The medical sense, a doctor's examination of a patient, is recorded from Segneri in 1694, and the sense “inspection” from Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger in 1619.[2]

Later uses include visita doganale, a customs inspection (1939–1940), passare la visita, to undergo a medical examination for military service (1902), and visita di controllo, a check-up (1961).[2][9] The word is also used, by metonymy, for the visitor: c'è una visita per te.[4][10][9]

Timeline

  • 12th century – The verb visitare is recorded in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.[5]
  • Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses visita for a pastoral visit.[2][4]
  • Before 1556 – Giovanni Della Casa uses it for a social call.[2]
  • 1619 – Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger uses it for an inspection.[2]
  • 1694 – Paolo Segneri uses it for a medical examination.[2]
  • 1902 – Pascoli has passare la visita.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A visit, a call on someone: Domenica andiamo a far visita ai nonni.[4][10][11][1]
  2. A visitor: Signora, c'è una visita per lei.[4][10][11]
  3. A medical examination: Ho prenotato una visita dal dermatologo.[4][10][11]
  4. A visit to a place as a tourist, a pilgrim or an official: la visita del museo, una visita di Stato.[4][11][12]
  5. An inspection, a check: la visita dei bagagli alla dogana.[11][2]

Word family

  • controvisita

Usage notes

Biglietto da visita is a business card, visita guidata a guided tour, visita fiscale a check by an employer's doctor on an employee on sick leave, and in military slang marcare visita means to report sick.[4][12][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4068
  7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 921
  8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Visita.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/visita. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·