immagine Italian · revision 38336

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1291, as maggine|origins=la imāgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /imˈma.d͡ʒi.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''immagine''' ''f'' (plural immagini, diminutive immaginina or immaginétta, pejorative immaginùccia)^(Wiktionary)

+ The literary form is ''imagine''; older literary forms include ''imago'', ''immago'' and ''image''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) ''Maggine'' is an old Florentine and Lucchese form.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1947)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|imāgō|t=likeness, portrait; appearance, phantom]], taken from the accusative ⟨imaginem⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1947) The Latin word spread widely in the language of the Bible and of the Church.^(DELI 1999) The double ⟨mm⟩ is explained by Nocentini as an alignment with words beginning with the prefix [[in-]], and by Sabatini–Coletti and DELI, after Migliorini, as a doubling after the first vowel of words stressed on the third-last syllable.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999) Forms with ⟨imag-⟩ and ⟨immag-⟩ alternated into the 18th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ A popular development of the Latin word survived in the old form [[roa-oit|maina]] and in [[fur|maine|t=wayside chapel]].^(DEI|1947)^(REW 1935) The learned word has parallels in [[fr|image]], whence [[m|en|image]], [[es|imagen]], [[pt|imagem]] and [[ca|imatge]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ DELI calls the origin of the Latin word uncertain.^(DELI 1999) It is usually connected with [[m|la|imitor|t=to copy, imitate]]: Nocentini and de Vaan derive both from an unrecorded verb, which may in turn be related to [[m|la|aemulus|t=rivalling]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(GDLI) De Vaan sets up a [[itc-pro|*imā-]] and a poorly attested root [[ine-pro|*h₂eym-|t=to copy]], comparing [[hit|ḫimma-|t=imitation, substitute]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is ''maggine'' in a Florentine text of 1291, for a likeness of a person or thing;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Brunetto Latini has ''imagine'' before 1294.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Dante uses ''imagine'' for the outward form of a body seen by the eye in the ''Convivio'' (1304–1308), where images are reflected ''sì come ne lo specchio'' (“as in a mirror”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|7, 343)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante also has the short form ''image'' in the ''Purgatorio'': ''guizza dentro allo specchio vostra image'' (“your image quivers in the mirror”).^(GDLI|7, 343)^(DELI 1999) The sense of a mental picture is in Dante before 1294, the symbolic sense in 1300–1313, and the sense of a painted or carved figure in 1313–1319; the spelling ''immagine'' appears before 1333 in Arrigo Simintendi and became usual later.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The derivatives came early: ''imaginazione'' in Dante before 1294, ''imaginare'' before 1303 and ''immaginario'' in 1354.^(DELI 1999) ''Immaginifico'' was coined in 1728 by Anton Maria Salvini to render a Greek word of Plato, and was later applied to Gabriele D'Annunzio.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In the 20th century the word took on the sense of the public image of a person or company, a calque of English [[m|en|image]] recorded in 1966 and 1971.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Zoology uses it, or ''imagine'', for the adult stage of an insect, and optics for the figure formed by a lens or mirror.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1291 – ''Maggine'' is recorded in a Florentine text.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''imagine''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''imagine'' in the ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1313–1319 – Dante uses ''image'' in the ''Purgatorio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1333 – The spelling ''immagine'' appears.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1728 – Anton Maria Salvini coins ''immaginifico''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1956 – The zoological and optical senses are recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1966 – The sense “public image”, from English, is recorded.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The outward form of a body as the senses, especially sight, perceive it; a reflection: ''Si guardava l'immagine nella vetrina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(optics)'' The figure of an object formed by a lens, mirror or other optical system.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A mental picture produced by memory or imagination; a vision: ''Ho ancora davanti l'immagine di quella spiaggia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # The [[m|en|image]] a person, firm or institution presents to the public: ''Il partito vuole rinnovare la sua immagine.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A concrete expression or [[m|en|symbol]] of something abstract: ''Mia nonna era l'immagine della serenità.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|picture]], a drawing, photograph or sculpture; a frame of a film: ''un libro pieno di immagini''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A sacred image, an [[m|en|effigy]] of a saint or of the Madonna.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literature)'' A figurative expression, a metaphor: ''parlare per immagini''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(zoology)'' The [[m|en|imago]], the adult stage of an insect.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[immaginabile]]

+ * [[immaginare]]

+ * [[immaginario]]

+ * [[immaginativa]]

+ * [[immaginativo]]

+ * [[immaginazione]]

+ * [[immaginifico]]

+ * [[immaginoso]]

+ * [[immaginetta]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[immago]]

+ * [[imitare]]

+ * [[la|imago]]

+ * [[fr|image]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A immagine e somiglianza di'', “in the image and likeness of”, comes from the account of the creation of man in Genesis.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}