spirito Italian · revision 38270

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1282, Restoro d'Arezzo|origins=la spīrō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈspi.ri.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spirito''' ''m'' (plural spiriti)^(Wiktionary)

+ The syncopated [[spirto]] is archaic and poetic.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|spīritus|t=breath; breath of life, soul; courage]], a learned word of the Church and of philosophy.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3595)^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin noun is formed from [[m|la|spīrō|t=to breathe, blow]] with the suffix [[m|la|-tus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Devoto explains that the inner vowel was not lost, as it is in the poetic form, because of the word's religious value.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The Latin word became a key word of Western culture when it was chosen to render [[grc|πνεῦμα|tr=pneûma|t=breath, spirit]], the highest, immaterial part of man as opposed to the body.^(Nocentini 2010) As a Christian word it spread through all of Romance: [[fro|esperit]], [[fr|esprit]], [[oc|esperit]], [[ca|esperit]], [[es|espíritu]] and [[pt|espírito]].^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3595) The Insular Celtic languages borrowed it too, as in [[sga|spirut]] and [[cy|ysbryd]].^(DEI|3595)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo's treatise of 1282, for the divine power that moves and orders the cosmos.^(DELI 1999) Restoro asks who turns the heavens and answers: ''Conviene di necessità che sia spirito questo; diciamo noi che son angeli'' (“This must of necessity be spirit: we say they are angels”).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the end of the 13th century ''spirito'' named a bodiless being, the soul opposed to the body and, in the old physiology of Guido Cavalcanti, the subtle fluids thought to carry the body's vital functions.^(DELI 1999) Dante uses it for a disposition of mind, and Giovanni Villani for quickness of wit.^(DELI 1999) In Old Italian it could also mean breath, the devil and courage.^(DEI|3595)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The sense “alcohol” came from that of “exhalation”: the alchemists called the volatile part of a distilled liquid a spirit, and ''spirito di vino'' is recorded in 1644.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3595) Grammarians used ''spirito'' for the Greek breathing mark, after Greek ''pneûma'', from the 16th century.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3595) The meaning “ghost” is recorded only in 1845.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Povero di spirito'' renders the Vulgate's ''pauperes spiritu'' (Matthew 5:3), a calque of Greek.^(DELI 1999) ''Spiritismo'' and ''spiritista'' came from French ''spiritisme'' (1857) and ''spiritiste'' (1861).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses ''spirito'' for the divine spirit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a being without a body.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo opposes it to the body.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1300 – Guido Cavalcanti writes of the vital spirits.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for liveliness of mind.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1571 – Castelvetro uses it for the Greek breathing mark.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1644 – ''Spirito di vino'' “alcohol” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1845 – The sense “ghost” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1863 – ''Spiritismo'' appears in a book title.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|spirit]], the immaterial principle of religious, moral and intellectual life, opposed to [[m|en|matter]] and to the body.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' In Hegel and the idealists, reason or the idea as it realises itself in the world.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # The individual [[m|en|soul]]: ''rendere lo spirito a Dio'', to die.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|ghost]], the spirit of a dead person: ''Dicono che nella villa si aggirino gli spiriti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A supernatural being that dwells in or guards a place or a force of nature: ''gli spiriti del fiume''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # State of mind, disposition: ''Ha accettato la notizia con spirito sereno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The moral and intellectual qualities of a person, and a person who has them: ''uno spirito ribelle''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Quick [[m|en|wit]], a sense of [[m|en|humour]]: ''una persona di spirito''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' [[m|en|alcohol]], especially ethyl alcohol: ''pesche sotto spirito''.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|3595)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The breathing mark of Greek writing, rough or smooth.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spiritare]]

+ * [[spiritato]]

+ * [[spiritello]]

+ * [[spiritico]]

+ * [[spiritismo]]

+ * [[spiritista]]

+ * [[spiritistico]]

+ * [[spiritosaggine]]

+ * [[spiritoso]]

+ * [[spirituale]]

+ * [[spiritualismo]]

+ * [[spiritualista]]

+ * [[spiritualità]]

+ * [[spiritualizzare]]

+ * [[spiritualizzazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spirare]]

+ * [[la|spiritus]]

+ * [[fr|esprit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Spirito Santo'' is the Holy Spirit; other set phrases are ''spirito di corpo'' (esprit de corps), ''presenza di spirito'' (presence of mind), ''povero di spirito'' and ''sotto spirito'' (preserved in alcohol).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}