energia Italian · revision 38290

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1563, Giovan Battista Gelli|origins=grc ἐνεργής}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /e.nerˈd͡ʒi.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''energia''' ''f'' (plural energie)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la-lat|energīa]], a word Jerome uses, from [[grc|ἐνέργεια|tr=enérgeia|t=activity, force in action]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Greek noun is formed from [[m|grc|ἐνεργής|tr=energḗs|t=active, effective]] (a later form beside [[m|grc|ἐνεργός|tr=energós]]), made of [[m|grc|ἐν|tr=en|t=in]] and [[m|grc|ἔργον|tr=érgon|t=work, deed]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) In Greek philosophy it was the force at work, as opposed to [[m|grc|δύναμις|tr=dúnamis]], force that is only potential.^(DEI|1478)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ DELI and Sabatini–Coletti hold that the word did not come straight from Latin but reached Italian through [[fr|énergie]], recorded from the 15th century, and that the adjective [[energico]] is likewise the French [[m|fr|énergique]], common in Italian only from the later 18th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The same word spread to the other European languages, for instance [[es|energía]].^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ The adjective [[energetico]] goes back to [[m|grc|ἐνεργητικός|tr=energētikós]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Giovan Battista Gelli, before 1563, with the sense of efficacy and liveliness, the force of an action or of words.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Tommaseo notes that the sense “efficacy, the force proper to an action” is already in Jerome's Latin.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word spread in Italian from the 16th century, used mostly by prose writers but by poets as well.^(DELI 1999) In the 17th century it entered the language of mechanics: Galileo speaks of “the force and the energy” of an effect, and in Famiano Michelini (1664) it is the capacity of a body or system to do work, the sense of modern physics.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “physical vigour” is recorded in Paolo Borsieri in 1819.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

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+ In the 20th century the physical sense gave the many phrases of technology and economics: ''energia elettrica'', ''energia nucleare'', ''energia alternativa'' and ''energia rinnovabile'', the last two recorded in newspapers of the 1980s and 1990s.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI) In the plural ''energie'' are a person's physical and mental strength, and by extension the active, able people of a group or country.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ Migliorini, quoted by DELI, describes how the 17th century hesitated between the adjectives ''energico'', ''energiaco'' and ''energetico'', and how the rare ''energetico'' was later revived for “producing energy”, so as to keep it apart from ''energico'' “vigorous”.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1563 – Giovan Battista Gelli uses ''energia'' for efficacy and liveliness.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1664 – Famiano Michelini uses it for the capacity of a body to do work.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1688 – The adjective ''energico'' is recorded in F. Terriesi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1730 – Antonio Vallisnieri uses ''energetico''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1819 – Paolo Borsieri uses ''energia'' for physical vigour.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1860 – The verb ''energizzare'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1984 – ''Energia alternativa'' appears in ''La Repubblica''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Physical [[m|en|vigour]], strength of the muscles and nerves, often in the plural: ''Dopo la corsa non mi restavano più energie.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|liveliness|alt=Liveliness]], vitality: ''Quella bambina ha un'energia incredibile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Firmness of character, [[m|en|determination]]: ''Ha difeso il progetto con molta energia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Force, effectiveness, especially of style or expression.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, plural)'' The active and able people of a group or country, seen as a resource.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' In Aristotle, act, the determining principle opposed to potency and matter; in Leibniz, the inner force of the monad.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(physics)'' [[m|en|energy]], the quantity that measures the capacity of a system to do work, measured in joules: ''energia cinetica'', ''energia potenziale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Energy as produced and used by people, as a resource: ''Il costo dell'energia è salito.''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[energetico]]

+ * [[energico]]

+ * [[energizzare]]

+ * [[energicamente]]

+ * [[bioenergia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fr|énergie]]

+ * [[grc|ἐνέργεια|tr=enérgeia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}