vittima Italian · revision 37908

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1313–1319, Dante|origins=la victima}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvit.ti.ma/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''vittima''' ''f'' (plural vittime)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|victima|t=sacrificial animal]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same Latin noun gave [[fr|victime]], recorded from the 14th century, and [[es|víctima]].^(DEI|4073)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ The origin of the Latin word is obscure.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) DELI quotes Ernout and Meillet, who wondered whether the word, though it looks Indo-European, was Latin at all, and thought Etruscan might have taken it from an Indo-European language and passed it on to Latin; the Romans themselves offered three popular etymologies, which Festus records.^(DELI 1999) Devoto saw in it a superlative-like formation on a stem meaning “exchange”, the one in [[m|la|vicis|t=turn, change]], so that the victim was the best return offered to the god;^(Devoto 1968)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini finds this the most persuasive explanation, since the ancients saw sacrifice as an exchange of gifts between men and gods.^(Devoto 1968)^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan likewise allows a noun meaning “exchange”, but also mentions a link with [[ine-pro|*weyk-|t=to select, sift]], the root of [[got|𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃|tr=weihs|t=holy]] and [[goh|wīh|t=holy]], words from the same religious sphere.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word to 1313–1319, in Dante, in the sense of one who suffers injustice or violence.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999) The TLIO cites an uncertain earlier witness, a Florentine translation of Aristotle's Ethics attributed to Taddeo Alderotti (before 1295), and then Dante's Commedia, where the word is used of a sacrificial victim and of a person killed or stripped of possessions or freedom.^(TLIO) In Purgatorio Dante writes of Charles of Anjou that he “Vittima fè di Corradino” (made a victim of Conradin).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante also used the word for the sacrifice itself, a sense now obsolete.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The sense “person who dies or is harmed in a disaster” is recorded before 1348 in Giovanni Villani, while the literal sense of an animal offered to a god appears only in the 16th century, in Annibal Caro's translation of the Aeneid: “offro per vittima” (I offer as a victim) a white bull to Jove.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|4073)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 1875) A later extension, someone who suffers the effects of their own or others' faults, is recorded in 1802.^(DELI 1999)

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+ In Christian language ''la Vittima'' is Christ, sacrificed on the Cross.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The ironic ''fare la vittima'', to play the victim, led in the 20th century to ''vittimismo'' (1922 in Nocentini, 1942 in DELI), ''vittimista'' and ''vittimistico'', and later to ''vittimizzare'' (1938) and ''vittimizzazione'' (1983).^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1295 – An uncertain early use appears in a translation of Aristotle's Ethics.^(TLIO)

+ * 1313–1319 – Dante uses ''vittima'' for one who suffers violence.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for those killed in a disaster.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for a sacrificial animal.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1802 – The sense “one who suffers the consequences of errors or vices” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1922 – ''Vittimismo'' and ''vittimista'' are recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1983 – ''Vittimizzazione'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In ancient rites, an animal or person offered and killed as a [[m|en|sacrifice]] to a god.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A person who dies or is harmed in a disaster, war or accident, a [[m|en|casualty]]: ''L'incendio non ha fatto vittime.'' ''Le vittime della strada'' are the dead of road accidents.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|victim]] of deceit, violence or abuse: ''È stato vittima di una truffa telefonica.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone who suffers the effects of their own failings: ''è vittima della sua ambizione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vittimismo]]

+ * [[vittimista]]

+ * [[vittimistico]]

+ * [[vittimizzare]]

+ * [[vittimizzazione]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|victima]]

+ * [[fr|victime]]

+ * [[en|victim]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Vittima'' is feminine whatever the sex of the person: ''lui è la vittima''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Fare la vittima'' means to act as if persecuted or neglected in order to win sympathy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Mietere vittime'', said of an epidemic or famine, means to claim many lives.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}