situazione Italian · revision 37927

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1324–1328, Jacopo della Lana|origins=la sinō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /si.tu.atˈt͡sjo.ne/, /si.twatˈt͡sjo.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''situazione''' ''f'' (plural situazioni, relational adjective situazionale)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|situare|-zione]], from [[situare]] “to place, locate”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The verb is [[bor|la-med|situō|alt=situāre]], from [[la|situs|t=position, site]], the past participle of [[m|la|sinō|t=to put down; to let]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ DELI thinks that the noun probably came into Italian through [[fr|situation]], recorded in 1375 for the geographical position of a place and before 1678 for a set of circumstances, and GRADIT compares the French word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The TLIO, however, has the Italian noun already in Jacopo della Lana's commentary on Dante (1324–1328), and DEI treats it as an Italian formation from the verb, like the French pair [[m|fr|situer]] and “situation”.^(TLIO)^(DEI|3511)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Jacopo della Lana's Bolognese commentary on Dante's ''Paradiso'' (1324–1328), where the word means “position”, the precise place of something in relation to the others in a series or system.^(TLIO) DEI cites the 14th-century commentary on Boethius for the sense “the lie of a place”.^(DEI|3511)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “position, location” long remained the main one: Serlio wrote before 1555 that the ''situazione'' of a house should be neither on the hilltop nor in the valley, and the GDLI quotes writers from Mascardi to Goldoni for the setting of a town or region.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 921)^(GDLI|19, 108) The sense “condition, state” appears in Daniello Bartoli (before 1685), and “circumstance, set of circumstances” in Pietro Verri's “l'attuale situazione” (1768).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Purists resisted the new sense: Tommaseo's dictionary (1873) called phrases like “Si metta nella mia situazione” (put yourself in my situation) bad usage, and found “La situazione della Spagna è brutta” improper.^(DELI 1999) The modern sense won all the same, and ''essere all'altezza della situazione'' “to rise to the occasion” is recorded in 1941.^(DELI 1999) Later the word took on technical senses in accounting, sociology and linguistics, where ''situazionale'' dates from 1970.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1324–1328 – Jacopo della Lana uses ''situazione'' for “position”.^(TLIO)

+ * 1375 – French ''situation'' is recorded for the position of a place.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1555 – Serlio writes of the ''situazione'' of a house.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 921)

+ * Before 1685 – Daniello Bartoli uses the word for “condition, state”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1768 – Pietro Verri writes ''l'attuale situazione'', the present circumstances.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1873 – Tommaseo's dictionary condemns the modern sense as improper.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1941 – ''Essere all'altezza della situazione'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1970 – The derivative ''situazionale'' appears.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|situation]], the condition or state that someone or something is in: ''Si trova in una situazione economica difficile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The state of affairs at a given moment: ''controllare la situazione'', to have things under control, ''essere all'altezza della situazione'', to rise to the occasion.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(accounting)'' A statement of accounts or figures at a given date: ''situazione patrimoniale'', a [[m|en|balance sheet]] of assets and liabilities.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sociology)'' The set of relations with the social environment that shape what a person thinks and does.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' The non-linguistic [[m|en|context]] in which a message is produced.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(military)'' The disposition and strength of units at a given moment.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Position, location: ''una villa in bella situazione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[situazionale]]

+ * [[situazionismo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[situare]]

+ * [[sito]]

+ * [[fr|situation]]

+ * [[la|situs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}