film Italian · revision 37803

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1889}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfilm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''film''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|film|t=membrane; thin coating]], a word of Germanic origin recorded in English from about the year 1000 in the sense “membrane”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) English used it for photographic film from the 1840s, and it is in this sense that Italian took it over at the end of the 19th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI|5, 996) DEI and the GDLI think it came through [[fr|film]], recorded in 1889.^(DEI|1643)^(GDLI|5, 996) The word was at first feminine in Italian and later became masculine;^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|5, 996)^(Zingarelli 2010) Tuscan and Roman speech adapted it as [[filme]].^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|5, 996)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record, in 1889, is the English phrase ''stripping film'' in the journal “L'Archivio fotografico”, glossed as the name the English give to photographic film.^(DELI 1999) In 1905 Panzini's dictionary describes it as a thin support for the sensitive layer, used instead of glass or paper.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1907 a poster used ''film'' for a narrative motion picture, and Panzini's dictionary of 1918 defined it as the long strip in cinematographic apparatus.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The word's real success came after the First World War, when it produced ''filmare'', ''filmato'' and ''filmico'' (all 1916) and compounds such as ''telefilm'' and ''microfilm''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Attempts to replace it with ''pellicola'' failed; instead ''film'' came to name the work shown and ''pellicola'' the light-sensitive material, a distinction already seen in Pirandello in 1915.^(DELI 1999) The sense “thin layer, coating” is recorded from 1950, and ''farsi un film'' for an unfounded fantasy is recent youth slang.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1889 – ''Stripping film'' appears in “L'Archivio fotografico”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1907 – A poster uses ''film'' for a motion picture.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ * 1915 – Pirandello uses ''film'' for the finished picture.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1916 – ''Filmare'', ''filmato'' and ''filmico'' are recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1948 – ''Filmologia'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – The sense “thin layer” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Photographic or cinematographic [[m|en|film]], [[pellicola]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|motion picture]], a [[m|en|movie]], especially a feature film: ''Ieri sera abbiamo visto un film giapponese.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The art of cinema: ''la storia del film''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A thin layer or coating; [[m|en|cling film]] for wrapping food.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial, figurative)'' A fantasy with no basis in reality: ''Non farti un film per una sola telefonata.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[filmare]]

+ * [[filmato]]

+ * [[filmico]]

+ * [[filmina]]

+ * [[filmografia]]

+ * [[filmologia]]

+ * [[filmabile]]

+ * [[filmetto]]

+ * [[filmino]]

+ * [[filmone]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The word is invariable: ''un film, due film''.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003) The older plural ''filmi'' and the singular ''filme'' are found in Tuscan and Roman speech.^(GDLI|5, 996)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}