termine Italian · revision 38492

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=1295|origins=ine-pro *térmn̥}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtɛr.mi.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''termine''' ''m'' (plural termini)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''termino'' (Old Pisan, 13th century), ''termene'' and ''tiermine''.^(DEI|3759)^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|termen|t=boundary stone]], through a Vulgar Latin accusative [[m|la-vul|*termĭnem]] that took the place of classical [[m|la|terminus|t=boundary]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|terme]], [[oc|terme]], [[ca|terme]], [[pt|termo]], [[sc|termene]] and [[ro|țărm|t=shore]]; [[es|término]] is learned.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DELI instead calls the Italian word learned, from [[m|la|terminus]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|terminus]] and the rarer [[m|la|termen]] go back to [[itc-pro|*termenos]] and [[ine-pro|*térmn̥|t=boundary]]; [[grc|τέρμα|tr=térma|t=goal]] and [[m|grc|τέρμων|tr=térmōn|t=border]] are cognate.^(Wiktionary) Nocentini notes that the masculine stood for the sacred boundary, personified in the god Terminus, and the neuter for the material stone or post.^(Nocentini 2010) DELI and the GDLI mention the view that the Italic word was borrowed from Greek.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ The sense “word, term” comes from the grammarians of Late Latin, who used [[m|la-lat|terminus]] on the model of [[grc|ὅρος|tr=hóros]], which meant both “boundary” and “definition, term of a proposition”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI gives this sense a separate heading.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word to 1295, and Sardinian ''termen'' is already in a 12th-century charter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999) DELI's first sense is “boundary of an estate or territory”, in Dante's line on the Quarnero gulf “that closes Italy and bathes its borders” (''che Italia chiude e i suoi termini bagna'').^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante also used the word for the end of something and for the goal one aims at.^(DELI 1999) The legal sense, the moment from which the effects of an agreement begin or cease, is in the statutes of the Calimala guild (1332–1337), and the time limit in Machiavelli (before 1527).^(DELI 1999) A ''termine'' was also the stone, tree or ditch that marked a boundary, and in art a herm.^(DEI|3759)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The sense “word” appears in Savonarola (before 1460), and Lionardo Salviati (1584) used it for the special vocabulary of a science or art and for a term of a proposition.^(DELI 1999) ''Mezzi termini'', “half measures, evasions”, comes from logic, where the middle term of a syllogism stands between the two others.^(DELI 1999) ''Terminologia'' (1829) was at first called clumsy by Tommaseo.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In the plural ''termini'' are also the terms and conditions of something (1891).^(DELI 1999) Common phrases include ''a breve'', ''medio'' and ''lungo termine'', ''contratto a termine'', ''in altri termini'' and ''ai minimi termini''; in grammar the ''complemento di termine'' is the indirect object.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – Sardinian ''termen'' appears in a charter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1295 – GRADIT's first date for ''termine''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for a boundary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1332–1337 – The statutes of the Calimala guild use it in the legal sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1460 – Savonarola uses it for a word.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for a time limit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1584 – Salviati uses it for a technical term.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1829 – ''Terminologia'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|end]], the point where something ends in space or time: ''Al termine della riunione siamo andati a cena.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # [[m|en|deadline]], time limit: ''Il termine per pagare scade venerdì.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' The moment from which the effects of a legal act begin or cease.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary, usually plural)'' [[m|en|boundary]], border; a boundary stone or post.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(plural)'' The terms, conditions or limits of something: ''Non conosco ancora i termini dell'accordo.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A stage or point reached; an aim.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|word]] or expression, especially one proper to a science or art: ''È un termine della chimica.''^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics, logic)'' A [[m|en|term]] of an expression, a fraction or a syllogism.^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|3759)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[terminologia]]

+ * [[terminologico]]

+ * [[terminismo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terminare]]

+ * [[terminale]]

+ * [[terminazione]]

+ * [[la|terminus]]

+ * [[es|término]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DELI treats “boundary, end” and “word” as two headwords, but they are the same Latin word, the second sense coming from the first.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Mezzi termini'' (half measures) and ''ai minimi termini'' (at its lowest ebb) are set phrases.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}