stagione Italian · revision 38387

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Iacopo Mostacci|origins=la stō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /staˈd͡ʒo.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''stagione''' ''f'' (plural stagioni)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|staggione]], [[roa-oit|stasone]], [[roa-oit|stascione]] and [[roa-oit|staxone]].^(GDLI) Verona had ''stasón'' in 1487.^(DEI|3614)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|statiō|t=a standing still; place, abode]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is formed from [[m|la|stō|t=to stand]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini explains the sense “season” from astronomy: it referred to the apparent halts of the Sun in the constellations of the zodiac, which mark the parts of the year.^(Nocentini 2010) Sabatini and Coletti also refer it to the position of the Sun.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The ⟨gi⟩ in place of the expected Tuscan ⟨zz⟩ points to northern Italy: DELI, Nocentini and Devoto take the word as northern in origin, and Sabatini and Coletti call the treatment of Latin /tj/ Gallo-Romance.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DEI notes the word in all dialects, including Friulian and Sardinian.^(DEI|3614) The same Latin word gave the learned [[stazione]] and the inherited [[stazzo]] and [[stazzone]].^(Wiktionary) Nocentini notes that [[es|estación]] is a learned word.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Iacopo Mostacci, a poet of the Sicilian school, before 1250, in the sense “each of the four parts of the year”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Mostacci writes of a bird that, seeing winter come, forgets its joy and does not like the season (''par che la stagione no li piaccia'').^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses the word for the weather of a season before 1321, and Iacopone da Todi for a period of life before 1306.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also used it for “the right time” and for “time, occasion”.^(DEI|3614)^(Prati 1951|945) The agricultural sense, the time of a harvest or of certain work, is recorded in 1805, and the sense “period of an activity” in 1806; in 1873 Tommaseo defines the theatre season.^(DELI 1999) DEI takes the hotel sense as a calque of French ''saison''.^(DEI|3614) In Sicilian and Abruzzese ''stagione'' means “summer”, the season par excellence.^(DEI|3614)^(Cortelazzo & Marcato 1998)

+

+ Panzini thought ''alta'' and ''bassa stagione'' were of French origin, although the French phrases are recorded later.^(DELI 1999) ''Un uomo per tutte le stagioni'' translates the title of Robert Bolt's play ''A Man for All Seasons'' (1960); in Italian it has come to mean an opportunist.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The verb ''stagionare'' “to season, mature” is recorded in a Lucca document of 1288.^(DELI 1999) English borrowed ''stagione'' for an opera season (1946), and German as ''Stagione'' (1838).^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Iacopo Mostacci uses ''stagione'' for a season.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1288 – ''Stagionare'' appears in a Lucca document.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it for a period of life.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the weather of a season.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1806 – The sense “period of an activity” is recorded in the Milanese press.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1838 – German borrows ''Stagione'' for the opera season.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1935 – ''Lavoratore stagionale'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1946 – English ''stagione'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|season]], each of the four parts of the year marked by the solstices and equinoxes: ''In montagna si vede bene il passare delle stagioni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A period of the year with a certain [[m|en|weather]]: ''la stagione delle piogge''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The time of year for certain farm work or for certain fruits: ''la stagione delle fragole''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The period of an activity or of events in culture, sport or tourism: ''la stagione concertistica'', ''la stagione invernale dello sci''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(broadcasting)'' A season of a series.^(Wiktionary)

+ # A period, age, time of life.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stagionale]]

+ * [[stagionare]]

+ * [[stagionato]]

+ * [[stagionatura]]

+ * [[stagionalmente]]

+ * [[stagionalità]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stazio]]

+ * [[stazione]]

+ * [[stazzo]]

+ * [[stazzone]]

+ * [[stare]]

+ * [[la|statiō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''alta stagione'' and ''bassa stagione'' (peak and off season), ''fuori stagione'' “out of season”, ''di stagione'' “in season” and ''mezza stagione'', spring and autumn as the in-between seasons.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}