esatto Italian · revision 37802

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1321–1337, Accurso di Cremona|origins=la agō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /eˈzat.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''esatto''' (feminine esatta, masculine plural esatti, feminine plural esatte, superlative esattissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|exactus|alt=exāctus|t=exact, precise]], properly the past participle of [[m|la|exigō|t=to drive out; to weigh, measure exactly; to complete]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The Latin verb is formed with [[m|la|ex-]] and [[m|la|agō|t=to drive, do]].^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DEI|1530) DELI and Zingarelli start from the sense “to weigh exactly”, Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Treccani from “to bring to completion”, and GRADIT from “to examine”.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003) The same Latin word gave [[fr|exact]] (16th century) and [[es|exacto]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1530)^(LEI|21, 858)

+

+ The LEI notes that the word lives on in popular form only in southern Italy, as [[nap|asatto]] and the Apulian ⟨satte⟩, which is doubled into an adverb meaning “exactly, at the right moment”.^(LEI|21, 858)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Messinese text of Accurso di Cremona (1321–1337), with the sense “done correctly and carefully, without mistakes”.^(TLIO) DELI dates this sense to Francesco Colonna in 1499, and rejects as forgeries the earlier examples once credited to Giordano da Pisa.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “true to the facts” is recorded in Tasso in 1592–1593, and “careful and precise in what one does” in Paolo Sarpi (1608–1619).^(DELI 1999) The noun ''esattezza'' follows in Galileo in 1623.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo explained ''esatto'' of a person as one who carries every act through to completion, and distinguished it from ''puntuale'', which concerns doing things on time.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ In modern Italian the adjective is used of answers, measurements and instruments (''l'ora esatta'', ''tre metri esatti''), and on its own it serves as a reply meaning “that's right!”^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Scienze esatte'' are mathematics and the sciences founded on it.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1321–1337 – Accurso di Cremona uses the adjective.^(TLIO)

+ * 1499 – Francesco Colonna uses it for “precise, free of mistakes”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1592–1593 – Tasso uses it for “true to the facts”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1608–1619 – Paolo Sarpi uses it of a careful person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1623 – Galileo uses ''esattezza''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Free of mistakes; [[m|en|exact]], [[m|en|accurate]]: ''Il risultato del calcolo è esatto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of an instrument, giving precise readings: ''un termometro esatto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Matching a model or the truth; faithful: ''Mi ha ripetuto le esatte parole del direttore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a quantity, neither more nor less: ''Sono le sei esatte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a person, careful and [[m|en|punctual]]: ''È molto esatta nel rispettare le scadenze.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary)'' Well proportioned.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # That's right!, [[m|en|exactly]]!, as a reply confirming what someone has said: ''«Ci vediamo alle otto?» «Esatto.»''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[esattezza]]

+ * [[esattamente]]

+ * [[inesatto]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[esigere]]

+ * [[la|exactus]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Esatto'' is also the past participle of [[esigere]] in the sense “to collect money”, used in finance and administration for sums or taxes that have been collected (Guicciardini, before 1540).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|5, 296) DELI and GRADIT give that use a numbered entry of its own, from the same Latin participle.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}