occasione Italian · revision 38445

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=first half of the 13th century, Viterbo|origins=la cadō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ok.kaˈzjo.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''occasione''' ''f'' (plural occasioni)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''occagione'', ''ocasion'', ''occasone'', ''occasuni'' and the northern ''occaxione'' and ''ochaxon''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|occasio|alt=occāsiō|t=a favourable moment, opportunity]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is formed from the supine [[m|la|occasum|alt=occāsum]] of [[m|la|occidō|t=to fall down; to set]], from [[m|la|ob-|t=before]] and [[m|la|cadō|t=to fall]], so that it first named something that “befalls”, a chance event.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(OLD 2012) Nocentini puts the sense “to happen at the right moment” between “to fall down” and the noun.^(Nocentini 2010) The same Latin verb gave [[occidente]], and the Latin root goes back perhaps to [[ine-pro|*(ḱe-)ḱh₂d-|t=to fall]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The noun inherited by popular speech is [[cagione]] “cause”, a doublet of the learned word.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968)^(GDLI) The learned word is also [[fr|occasion]] and [[es|ocasión]].^(Nocentini 2010) According to DELI, Latin shifted from “favourable moment” to “reason, cause” fairly late, about 400 AD in Sulpicius Severus, and Saint Jerome used the plural for “pretexts”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a Viterbo translation of the first half of the 13th century, where the word means “cause, reason”.^(TLIO) DELI's first date is for the sense “favourable chance, opportune moment”, in a 14th-century translation of Livy.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used the word for a cause or reason, in the phrase ''per occasione di'' “because of”, for a set of circumstances, for a favourable moment and for an obstacle.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “cause, pretext” to the 15th century and “event, circumstance” to Ariosto's ''Orlando furioso'' of 1516.^(DELI 1999) Lorenzo de' Medici wrote that true wisdom lies in waiting for the right moment and using it (''aspettare ed usare l'occasione'').^(GDLI) Varchi distinguished an ''occasione'', which merely gives the opening, from a ''cagione'', which causes.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The modern commercial sense is “a bargain”, an item sold at a low price, and ''d'occasione'' describes second-hand goods offered cheaply, or verse written for a particular event.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) The proverb ''l'occasione fa l'uomo ladro'' (opportunity makes the thief) is common.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Derivatives are recent: ''occasionale'' from 1652 and ''occasionare'' from 1566.^(DELI 1999) The word passed into Maltese as ''okkażjoni''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 13th century – A Viterbo translation has the first Italian record.^(TLIO)

+ * 14th century – A translation of Livy uses it for an opportune moment.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 15th century – The ''Proverbia pseudoiacoponici'' use it for a cause or pretext.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1516 – Ariosto uses it for an event or circumstance.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1566 – The verb ''occasionare'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1652 – ''Occasionale'' “fortuitous” is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|opportunity]], a [[m|en|chance]], a favourable moment: ''Non lasciarti scappare questa occasione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|circumstance]] or event, a particular moment: ''Per l'occasione aveva comprato una giacca nuova.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A cause, reason or [[m|en|pretext]]: ''Ogni cosa diventa occasione di lite.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[m|en|bargain]], an item sold at a reduced price.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[occasionale]]

+ * [[occasionalmente]]

+ * [[occasionare]]

+ * [[occasionalismo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cagione]]

+ * [[occidente]]

+ * [[la|occasio]]

+ * [[fr|occasion]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''all'occasione'' “if need be”, ''in occasione di'' “on the occasion of”, ''cogliere l'occasione'' “to seize the opportunity” and ''d'occasione'' “second-hand, bargain” or “written for the event”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}