pressione Italian · revision 38325

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1611, Florio|origins=la premō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /presˈsjo.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pressione''' ''f'' (plural pressioni)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is [[roa-oit|plesione]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|pressiō|t=pressure, weight]], a noun of action formed on [[m|la|pressus]], the past participle of [[m|la|premō|t=to press]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(OLD 2012) The Latin noun is found in Vitruvius.^(DEI|3070)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The same word is [[fr|pression]], recorded from 1256, and [[es|presión]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3070) It belongs with [[premere]] and with [[impressione]].^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's earliest date for the word is John Florio's Italian–English dictionary of 1611, with the sense “the act or effect of pressing”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The scientific sense, the force with which a fluid acts on a surface, is found in Galileo, who died in 1642.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3070)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word became a term of 17th-century physics: the experimenters of the Accademia del Cimento debated whether Torricelli's mercury was held up by the “natural pressure of the air”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) From physics came the meteorological ''pressione atmosferica'' and the medical ''pressione arteriosa'' or simply ''pressione'' for blood pressure.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The figurative sense “insistent urging to make someone do something” is dated 1855 by DELI;^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3070) DEI dates it 1871 and calls it a Gallicism.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3070) Later uses include ''gruppo di pressione'' “pressure group”, ''pressione fiscale'' “tax burden”, and ''essere sotto pressione'' “to be under pressure, under stress”.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1256 – French ''pression'' is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1611 – Florio's dictionary records ''pressione''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1642 – Galileo uses it for the pressure of a fluid.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1855 – The figurative sense “insistent urging” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1871 – DEI's date for the same sense, which it takes from French.^(DEI|3070)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|pressure]]: the act of pressing on a surface or object, or the force so exerted: ''Basta una leggera pressione sul pulsante.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(physics)'' The ratio of the force acting perpendicularly on a surface to the area of that surface; also the pressure of a fluid.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(meteorology)'' Atmospheric pressure, ''pressione atmosferica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(medicine)'' [[m|en|blood pressure]]: ''Il medico mi ha misurato la pressione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military)'' A prolonged offensive on a wide front.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Insistent urging to make someone act in a certain way; [[m|en|leverage]]: ''Il sindaco ha ceduto alle pressioni dei commercianti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(economics)'' ''Pressione fiscale'': the ratio of taxes collected to national income.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contropressione]]

+ * [[sovrappressione]]

+ * [[pressostato]]

+ * [[pressofusione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[impressione]]

+ * [[premere]]

+ * [[la|pressio]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Essere sotto pressione'' is said both of a boiler that has reached working pressure and, figuratively, of a person under stress.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''A pressione'' describes something that works by pressing, such as a stud or a press-fit cap, and ''pentola a pressione'' is a pressure cooker.^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}