operazione Italian · revision 38339

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la operor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /o.pe.ratˈt͡sjo.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''operazione''' ''f'' (plural operazioni)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old variants are ''operagione'', from Tuscany, and ''operasione'', from the area of Pisa and Lucca.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|operātiō|t=work, activity]], taken from the accusative ⟨operationem⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) Zingarelli and the GDLI call the Latin word Late Latin.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) It is the action noun of [[m|la|operor|t=to work, be busy]], formed with the suffix [[m|la|-tiō]], and so belongs with Italian [[operare]] and [[opera]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The GDLI explains ⟨operasione⟩ as a form of the Pisan and Lucchese area, perhaps also of Pistoia, and ⟨operagione⟩ as a Tuscan one.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first records are in Bono Giamboni, who died before 1292: the word means the act or result of working, and an action aimed at a purpose.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In a passage the GDLI quotes, Giamboni writes that someone took from him all his means in such a way that ''mi rendè inutili tutte le mie operazioni'' (“he made all my works useless”).^(GDLI) Zingarelli dates the word to about 1261.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word could mean any deed or work: Boccaccio writes of the ''operazioni'' of the gods, and Petrarch of a wit that freezes ''nell'operazïon'' (in the doing).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The surgical sense is recorded around 1300 in the Italian translation of Guglielmo da Piacenza.^(DELI 1999) DELI notes that until Gherardini's supplement of 1855 medical ''operazione'' could also mean the action of a purge on the bowels.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The military sense appears in 1516 in Marin Sanudo, and ''zona di operazione'', the territory where fighting takes place, before 1872 in Giuseppe Mazzini.^(DELI 1999) In mathematics Cosimo Bartoli used the word before 1572 for a process that yields one quantity from others.^(DELI 1999) Already in the 14th-century ''Ottimo'' commentary on Dante it could mean a coordinated series of actions on a large scale.^(DELI 1999) In modern usage it also names a planned police or military action, often with a code name, an advertising campaign, a movement of money in a bank, and an instruction executed by a computer.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1261 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''operazione'' for a deed or action.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1300 – The sense “surgical operation” appears in the Italian Guglielmo da Piacenza.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1516 – Marin Sanudo uses the word for military operations.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1572 – Cosimo Bartoli uses it in mathematics.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1872 – Giuseppe Mazzini uses ''zona di operazione''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|operation]], the act of working or doing something and its result; a [[m|en|procedure]] that needs care or skill: ''Smontare la caldaia è un'operazione lunga.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A set of coordinated actions aimed at a goal, especially in business, finance or policing: ''un'operazione commerciale'', ''un'operazione antidroga''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(banking)'' Any movement of money, such as a deposit or a transfer.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A surgical operation, [[m|en|surgery]]: ''Domani mia madre ha un'operazione al ginocchio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(military)'' A coordinated set of movements and actions of troops, in war or peace: ''operazioni navali''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A campaign or initiative of wide scope, often named after its aim.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A process that produces a number or other entity from given ones; one of the four operations of arithmetic: ''Mio figlio sta ancora imparando le operazioni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(computing)'' An action specified by an instruction in a program.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[operazionale]]

+ * [[operazionismo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[operare]]

+ * [[opera]]

+ * [[operatore]]

+ * [[la|operatio]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common combinations are ''operazione chirurgica'' (surgical operation) ''subire un'operazione'' (to undergo an operation) and ''le quattro operazioni'' (the four operations of arithmetic).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}