agente Italian · revision 37739

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1294, Guittone d'Arezzo|origins=la agō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aˈd͡ʒɛn.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''agente''' ''m'' (plural agenti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|agēns|t=doing, acting]], the present participle of [[m|la|agō|t=to do, drive, act]] (compare [[agenda]] and [[agire]]).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The LEI and DEI say that the word came into Italian through the Latin of medieval philosophy.^(LEI|1, 1279)^(DEI|83) Latin already used it for an official, in the phrase [[m|la|agēns|alt=agentes rerum]] “imperial inspectors”, and for a pleader or advocate.^(DEI|83)^(GDLI)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Italian passed the word on to [[fr|agent]] (1578), according to DEI and the GDLI.^(DEI|83)^(GDLI) The same learned word is [[ca|agent]], [[es|agente]] and [[pt|agente]].^(LEI|1, 1279)^(Nocentini 2010) [[agenzia|alt=Agenzia]] was formed in Italian on the model of [[mercanzia]] beside [[mercante]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the poems of Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, with the sense “that acts, that does something”, also as a noun.^(TLIO)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DELI's first date for the sense “active, operating” is Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “a person who acts for someone else” is in a 14th-century translation of Josephus, and the diplomatic agent of a ruler or state in Machiavelli from 1525–1527.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|1, 1279) The commercial agent, who does business in an area on behalf of a firm, is found from Michelangelo (before 1564), and the agent who runs a country estate from about 1624; the dialects have the word in the same senses, as Piedmontese ''agènt'' and Sicilian ''aggenti''.^(LEI|1, 1279) In chemistry an ''agente'' is a substance that causes or changes a reaction, from Daniello Bartoli, before 1685.^(DELI 1999)

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+ The noun also means a police officer, of the lowest rank of the state police, and grammar uses it for the doer of an action, as in ''complemento d'agente''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) German borrowed ''Agent'' in 1546, from Italian or French, first for a diplomatic agent and later for a commercial traveller and a spy.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ''agente''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses it in the sense “active”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1525–1527 – Machiavelli uses it for a diplomatic agent.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|1, 1279)

+ * 1546 – German ''Agent'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1578 – French ''agent'' is first recorded.^(DEI|83)^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1685 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for a chemical agent.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1742 – ''Agenzia'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person or thing that [[m|en|act|alt=acts]] or causes an effect.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The doer of the action expressed by the verb, as opposed to the patient.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A police [[m|en|officer]], especially of the lowest rank: ''Due agenti fermarono la macchina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who does business or provides services on behalf of others, a [[m|en|representative]]: ''agente di commercio'', ''agente immobiliare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A substance that causes a reaction or changes its course.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A factor that causes disease, such as a germ or radiation: ''agente patogeno''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # That acts or produces an effect: ''causa agente'', the efficient cause.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[agenzia]]

+ * [[subagente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[agire]]

+ * [[agenda]]

+ * [[la|agēns]]

+ * [[fr|agent]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}