discorso Italian · revision 38318

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1287–1288, Pisan translation of Albertano's treatises|origins=la currō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /disˈkor.so/, /diskoɾt͡so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''discorso''' ''m'' (plural discorsi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old spellings include [[roa-oit|descorso]] and [[roa-oit|discurso]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|discursus|t=a running to and fro]], a noun from [[m|la|discurrō|t=to run about]], which is [[m|la|dis-]] and [[m|la|currō|t=to run]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DEI calls it a semi-learned word and notes that in later Latin, in Macrobius, the noun had already taken the figurative sense of a talk or a treatise, the sense it has in Italian.^(DEI|1332) French has the same word as [[fr|discours]], recorded from the 16th century.^(DEI|1332)

+

+ The Latin noun was formed from the verb with the action suffix [[m|la|-tus]].^(OLD 2012) The Italian verb [[discorrere]] continues the Latin verb in the same way, and DELI and Nocentini treat the noun under it.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Pisan translation of the treatises of Albertano da Brescia (1287–1288).^(TLIO) In Old Italian the word still had the concrete senses of Latin: a going or running about, also of a galloping horse, the flow of a liquid, and the passing of time.^(TLIO) Giovanni Villani writes of the dust raised “by the multitude and the running about of the horses” (''per la moltitudine e discorso de’ cavalli'').^(GDLI|4, 629)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside the physical senses, Old Italian used ''discorso'' in philosophy for the way the reasoning mind proceeds from premises to conclusions, and for an address composed by the rules of rhetoric.^(TLIO) Dante uses it for reasoning in the ''Convivio'', and later writers for the faculty of reason itself, ''discorso della ragione'' in Castiglione and Gelli.^(Prati 1951|382)^(DELI 1999) The TLIO also records ''discorso di lingua'', a slip of the tongue.^(TLIO) The sense “running about” fell out of use;^(GDLI|4, 629)^(Prati 1951|382) Ariosto still has it, and he also uses the word for the course of a river.^(GDLI|4, 629)^(Prati 1951|382)

+

+ The meaning “a speech or treatise on a subject, written or delivered in public” is recorded before 1504 in Pandolfo Collenuccio,^(DELI 1999) and works were titled ''Discorso'', as Tasso's ''Discorsi dell'arte poetica''.^(GRADIT 2003) Modern Italian uses the word for any spoken exposition of a thought, for a conversation, and in the plural for empty talk.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In linguistics it names an utterance longer than a sentence, and grammar distinguishes ''discorso diretto'' and ''discorso indiretto'', direct and reported speech.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1287–1288 – ''Discorso'' appears in the Pisan translation of Albertano da Brescia.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for reasoning.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1504 – Pandolfo Collenuccio uses it for a speech or treatise delivered in public.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – French ''discours'' is recorded.^(DEI|1332)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The setting out of a thought or an idea in words, and what is said in it: ''Non ho capito il senso del tuo discorso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|conversation]], a talk between people, ''attaccare discorso'', to strike up a conversation, and ''cambiare discorso'', to change the subject.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|speech]] or address on a subject, read or improvised in public: ''Il sindaco ha tenuto un discorso alla cerimonia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[m|en|treatise]] or dissertation, also as the title of a work.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A line of action or an approach in politics or culture that can be discussed and carried forward.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(plural)'' Idle talk, chatter: ''Basta con i discorsi, passiamo ai fatti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A matter, a question: ''questo è un altro discorso'', that is another matter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' An utterance made of linked sentences, ''discorso diretto'' and ''indiretto'', direct and reported speech, and ''parte del discorso'', part of speech.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[discorsivo]]

+ * [[discorsività]]

+ * [[discorsetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[discorrere]]

+ * [[corso]]

+ * [[la|discursus]]

+ * [[fr|discours]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Old Italian also had an adjective ''discorso'', the past participle of [[discorrere]], meaning “gone about” and “discussed”; it survives only in literary use.^(TLIO)^(GDLI|4, 630)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}