bisogno Italian · revision 37646

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=frk *bisunni}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /biˈzoɲ.ɲo/, /biˈsɔɲ.ɲo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bisogno''' ''m'' (plural bisogni)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old spellings are many, among them [[roa-oit|besogno]], [[roa-oit|bisongno]], [[roa-oit|bexogno]] and [[roa-oit|biçogno]].^(TLIO)

+ Lombard texts of the early 13th century have [[roa-oit|besong]].^(LEI|5, 858)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|besoing|t=need]], from [[frk|*bisunni|t=care, concern]], according to Nocentini and GRADIT.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DELI and the LEI start instead from [[la-med|bisonium|t=need, emergency]], probably a Carolingian word, which the LEI finds in Tuscany from 1042, mostly in the feudal formula ⟨de placito et bisonio⟩ (“in lawsuit and in need”).^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|5, 858) DEI cites a document of 1115 from Muratori.^(DEI|534) DELI points out that Old French already had ⟨estre bosoinz⟩ in the 11th century, so the Medieval Latin date is too late to settle the question.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word is a compound of the Germanic prefix [[gem-pro|*bi-]] and an older noun recorded in Medieval Latin as [[m|la-med|sonium]] from the 7th century, from Germanic ⟨*sunni⟩ “care”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI and DEI leave open whether it reached Italy with the Goths, from a Gothic ⟨*bi-sunja⟩, or from French, where it was Frankish.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|534)^(REW 1935) The simple noun gave [[roa-oit|sogna|t=worry]] and [[fr|soin|t=care]], and the compound gave [[fr|besoin]] and [[pro|bezonh]].^(DEI|534)^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary traces the Frankish noun to [[gem-pro|*sunjō]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The word did not take root in the southern dialects.^(DEI|534) The Logudorese [[m|sc|bizondzu]] was taken from Italian.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese ''Libro'' of Uguccione da Lodi, of the early 13th century.^(TLIO)^(LEI|5, 858) In Tuscany it appears in Garzo and in the phrase ''far bisogno'' “to be needed” in Florentine texts of 1272, in the general sense of a need for something one lacks.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word covered a state of need, the thing needed and also a private affair;^(TLIO) ''avere bisogno'' meant both “to need” and “to be needed”.^(TLIO) Dante uses it for the goad of necessity: ''se di bisogno stimolo il trafigge'' “if the spur of need pierces him” (''Purgatorio'' 25).^(GDLI|2, 255) The sense “poverty” is recorded before 1332, the plural for bodily needs before 1400 in Franco Sacchetti, and the sense “strong urge to do something” in 1573 in Torquato Tasso.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The feminine ''bisogna'' “business, affair” goes back to Guittone d'Arezzo, but in the 16th century it was counted among the words writers now shunned.^(DELI 1999) In the 20th century ''bisogno'' became a term of economics and psychology, for the demand for a good and for a drive that directs behaviour.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1042 – Medieval Latin ''bisonium'' is recorded in Tuscany.^(LEI|5, 858)

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses ''bisogno''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1272 – ''Far bisogno'' appears in Florentine texts.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ''bisogna'' and ''bisognoso''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1332 – First record of the sense “poverty”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses the plural for bodily needs.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1573 – Torquato Tasso uses the word for a strong urge.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1812 – ''Fabbisogno'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|need]], the lack of something necessary or useful, mostly in ''avere bisogno di'' “to need”: ''Ho bisogno di un caffè.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # With ''esserci'', a need for something or for doing something: ''Non c'è bisogno di urlare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A difficulty or emergency: ''in caso di bisogno'' “if need be”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|poverty]], want: ''essere nel bisogno'' “to be in need”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Usually in the plural, the needs or requirements of a person or group.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(economics)'' The need or desire for a good or service that becomes demand when backed by purchasing power.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(psychology)'' A [[m|en|drive]] that directs an organism's activity towards a goal.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(euphemistic, colloquial)'' A call of nature, and in the plural excrement: ''fare i propri bisogni''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bisognare]]

+ * [[bisognoso]]

+ * [[bisognevole]]

+ * [[bisogna]]

+ * [[fabbisogno]]

+ * [[abbisognare]]

+ * [[bisognatario]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fr|besoin]]

+ * [[fr|soin]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries ''bisogno'' was also a contemptuous name for a raw Spanish recruit in Italy;^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT) DELI holds that this sense has a different origin.^(DELI 1999) It passed into English as ''bezonian'' (1592), a needy recruit and later a beggar or rascal.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}