pausa Italian · revision 38505

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=15th century|origins=grc παύω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpaw.za/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pausa''' ''f'' (plural pause)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|pausa|t=cessation, pause]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Latin “pausa” is usually derived from [[grc|παῦσις|tr=paûsis|t=cessation]], from [[m|grc|παύω|tr=paúō|t=to stop, cease]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) Another view, which the GDLI, Treccani and Gabrielli report, makes the Latin noun a back-formation from a spoken Latin verb [[m|la|pausō|alt=*pausāre]], itself built on the Greek aorist imperative [[grc|παῦσαι|tr=paûsai|t=stop!]];^(GDLI)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Zingarelli 2010) Zingarelli also derives it from that verb.^(GDLI)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Zingarelli 2010) The GDLI adds that the Greek verb has no certain etymology.^(GDLI)

+

+ The Late Latin verb “pausāre” is also the source of the inherited [[posare]] and [[posa]], so that “pausa” is their learned counterpart.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The same Latin noun gave [[fr|pause]] (14th century) and [[es|pausa]].^(DEI|2809)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI dates the word to an anonymous 15th-century text, in the sense “short interval, moment of rest”;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) GRADIT and Nocentini also give the 15th century, while Zingarelli dates it before 1328.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) In the anonymous military treatise the GDLI quotes, one must wait, or at least make such a pause, that the enemy attacks with its ranks in disorder.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Ariosto's ''Orlando furioso'' has ''senza indugio e pausa'' “without delay or pause”.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|2809) The musical sense, a rest in the playing or singing, is recorded in 1492 and in Niccolò Liburnio in 1526, and Gioseffo Zarlino used it in 1558;^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2809) DEI holds that French and English took this sense from Italian, while the French dictionaries DIFIT cites (the TLF, the Grand Robert) prefer a Latin source;^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2809) German ''Pausa'' (1728) is a mixture of Latin and Italian.^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2809)

+

+ Modern working life added ''pausa pranzo'' “lunch break”, ''pausa caffè'' “coffee break” and ''pausa di riflessione'', a break agreed to reconsider a negotiation or a relationship; devices are ''messi in pausa''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) In phonetics a ''pausa'' is the stop of speech between two sequences of sounds, and in physiology the interval between heart sounds.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 15th century – ''Pausa'' is recorded in an anonymous text for a short interval.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1492 – The musical sense is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1516–1532 – Ariosto writes ''senza indugio e pausa''.^(GDLI)

+ * 1526 – Niccolò Liburnio uses it for a rest in music.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1558 – Gioseffo Zarlino uses the musical term.^(DEI|2809)

+ * 1728 – German ''Pausa'' is recorded as a musical term.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pause]] or [[m|en|break]], a temporary stop in an activity: ''Dopo tre ore di studio si è concesso una pausa.'', ''pausa pranzo'', lunch break, ''pausa di riflessione'', a break to think things over.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A short silence in speaking, reading or reciting: ''Prima di rispondere fece una lunga pausa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' The stop in speech between two successive sequences of sounds.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' A [[m|en|rest]], a silence of fixed length, and the sign that marks it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(physiology)'' The interval between two heart sounds: ''pausa diastolica''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pausare]]

+ * [[posa]]

+ * [[posare]]

+ * [[la|pausa]]

+ * [[fr|pause]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Mettere in pausa'' is said of a recorder, a player or a computer program stopped for a moment with a key or command.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}