appuntamento Italian · revision 38015

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1502, Niccolò Machiavelli|origins=la punctum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ap.pun.taˈmen.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''appuntamento''' ''m'' (plural appuntamenti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|appointement]], a legal term recorded in French from 1388.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|259) In French it meant an interim ruling by which a judge ordered the parties to bring new witnesses or written evidence on the points of a case that were still unclear; it is derived from [[m|fr|appointer|t=to settle a case; to fix a hearing]], from [[m|fr|point]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) From “settlement of a matter” it came to mean an agreement to meet.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Devoto and Sabatini–Coletti call it a calque on the French word.^(Devoto 1968)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records have the sense “agreement, pact”: Niccolò Machiavelli used it in 1502.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini dates the word to 1487 and Zingarelli to before 1471.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI rejects an earlier quotation from Fra Giordano that the Crusca dictionaries, Tommaseo and Battaglia repeated, as almost certainly a forgery.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th century the word belonged to politics and diplomacy: Guicciardini feared “un nuovo appuntamento simile a quello di Cambrai” (a new settlement like that of Cambrai).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010) DEI also records the sense “allowance, pay” in Leopardi.^(DEI|259)

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+ The sense “an arranged meeting at a given place and time” is first recorded in 1743, in Giovanni Lami, and DEI finds it in Alfieri.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|259) It is now the only common sense, and the older ones are literary or obsolete.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Modern phrases include ''appuntamento al buio'' “blind date”, ''appuntamento spaziale'' or ''in orbita'' for the docking of two spacecraft, the euphemism ''casa d'appuntamenti'' for a brothel, and ''mancare all'appuntamento'' “to fail to live up to expectations”, said of athletes and teams.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1388 – French ''appointement'' is recorded as a legal term.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1502 – Machiavelli uses ''appuntamento'' for “agreement”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1743 – Giovanni Lami uses it for an arranged meeting.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|appointment]], an arranged meeting between people at a set place and time: ''Abbiamo appuntamento davanti al cinema alle nove'', ''un appuntamento di lavoro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A booking with a doctor or other professional: ''Il dentista riceve solo su appuntamento.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A [[m|en|date]], a romantic meeting, ''appuntamento al buio'', a blind date.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' ''mancare all'appuntamento'': to fail to meet expectations, especially of a team or athlete.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary, obsolete)'' An agreement, pact.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[punto]]

+ * [[fr|appointement]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate, rare ''appuntamento'' “sharpening, putting a point on”, derived from [[appuntare]] and recorded from 1555, is listed by GRADIT as obsolete.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}