guida Italian · revision 38196

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1274|origins=gem-pro *witaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡwi.da/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''guida''' ''f'' (plural guide)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun formed from [[guidare]], perhaps from its imperative.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1891)^(Devoto 1968) The verb is of Germanic origin: DELI derives it from [[gem-pro|*witaną|t=to direct]], probably through [[got|*widan]], and Nocentini and GRADIT take it from that Gothic verb.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Prati and Meyer-Lübke start instead from a Gothic noun [[m|got|*wida|t=guide of a stranger]], and Meyer-Lübke found the vowel /i/ hard to explain.^(Prati 1951|541)^(REW 1935) Wiktionary takes the verb from [[pro|guidar]], from [[frk|*witan]].^(Wiktionary) [[la-med|wida]] is recorded at Sacile in the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1891)

+

+ DEI and Meyer-Lübke note that [[fro|guie]], from [[m|fro|guier|t=to guide]], passed into [[pro|guiza]], [[ca|guia]], [[es|guía]] and [[pt|guia]], while [[fr|guide]] was taken from Italian.^(DEI|1891)^(REW 1935) DIFIT dates the French word to 1370 and leaves open whether it came from Old Occitan or from Italian.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word to about 1274, in the sense of direction or guidance.^(GRADIT 2003) DELI's first records are both in Dante: the person who shows the way (1300–1313), as when Virgil tells Dante “ed io sarò tua guida” (and I shall be your guide) in the first canto of the ''Inferno'', and the act of guiding (1313–1319).^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century Giovanni dalle Celle uses the word for whatever guides, in a figurative sense too.^(DELI 1999) In 1665 Sforza Pallavicino applies it to a book that teaches the first elements of an art, and before 1810 Luigi Lanzi to a guidebook for travellers; from the person who shows the way came the professional who shows tourists round.^(DELI 1999) Technical senses followed: a device that keeps a moving part in its track (before 1502) and, in the plural, the rails (1846).^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ With the motor car the word came to mean the controls of a vehicle and driving itself (1939–1940, Palazzi), and ''guida a sinistra'' (left-hand drive) passed into political language in 1955.^(DELI 1999) In the old armies the ''guide'' were sergeants in charge of a squad and, in the 18th century, a corps that escorted the general staff; today a ''guida'' is also a girl scout.^(GRADIT 2003) German took ''Guida'' in 1732 as a term of the fugue, a synonym of the antecedent.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1274 – ''Guida'' is recorded in the sense “guidance”.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 13th century – ''Wida'' appears in Medieval Latin at Sacile.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''guida'' for one who shows the way.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1370 – French ''guide'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1502 – The word is used for a mechanical guide.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1665 – Sforza Pallavicino uses it for a handbook.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1732 – German ''Guida'' is recorded as a musical term.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1810 – Luigi Lanzi uses it for a guidebook.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1846 – The plural ''guide'' means “rails”.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1939–1940 – Palazzi records the sense “driving; controls of a vehicle”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|driving]], the driving of a vehicle; a way of driving: ''Ha una guida molto prudente.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Leadership, direction of a country, company or party: ''È alla guida dell'azienda da vent'anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Guidance, teaching, advice: ''Ha studiato sotto la guida di un grande maestro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # What shows the way; a point of reference, a model; after a noun as an invariable adjective, “leading”, as in ''idea guida''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|guide]], a person who leads others or shows tourists round, as in ''guida turistica'' and ''guida alpina''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A girl scout, a [[m|en|Girl Guide]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A [[m|en|guidebook]]; a handbook or manual: ''Abbiamo comprato una guida di Napoli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(technical)'' A device, rail or slot that keeps a moving part in place.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A long narrow carpet laid on stairs or along a corridor, a runner.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(historical)'' In the old armies, a sergeant in charge of a squad; a corps escorting the general staff.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[guidone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fr|guide]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}