impronta Italian · revision 38508

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=13th century, Malispini chronicle|origins=la imprimō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /imˈpron.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''impronta''' ''f'' (plural impronte)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian had [[m|roa-oit|imprenta]], used by Dante, and the masculine ''impronto'' was long the more frequent form, recorded in Venetian in 1660 and in Tuscan writers of the 18th century.^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun formed from the verb [[improntare]] “to imprint”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1969) That verb is a variant of the older [[roa-oit|imprentare]], changed by association with [[pronto]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968) DELI derives “imprentare” from [[fr|empreindre|t=to imprint]] together with its participial noun [[m|fr|empreinte|t=imprint]], unless both go back to a common [[la-vul|*imprimitō|alt=*imprimitāre]], a derivative of [[la|imprimō|t=to press into, imprint]].^(DELI 1999) Nocentini starts from [[fro|empreinter]] and the same Vulgar Latin frequentative.^(Nocentini 2010) The GDLI takes the old “imprenta” straight from French “empreinte” (13th century), the noun from the past participle of “empreindre”.^(GDLI)

+

+ The word was borrowed as [[es|impronta]] from the Italian word.^(DEI|1969)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI dates the sense “image impressed by a die” to the chronicle of Ricordano and Giacotto Malispini (13th century) and the general sense “mark left on a body that has been pressed” to Iacopo Nardi in 1554, the date GRADIT and Nocentini give for the word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) The older ''imprenta'' is in Dante's ''Paradiso'' (7.69), where divine goodness does not lose its “imprint” when it seals.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Cennino Cennini (15th century) uses the word for the shape a model leaves in the foundry sand into which molten metal is poured.^(DELI 1999) The figurative sense “distinctive mark” is first recorded in Francesco Algarotti (before 1764).^(DELI 1999) In numismatics an ''impronta'' is the type and legend of a coin, and the trial strike of a coin or medal is recorded in the Zingarelli of 1970.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ The 20th century added technical senses: ''impronta digitale'' (fingerprint), the dental impression, the genetic fingerprint and, in ethology, a rendering of ''imprinting'';^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''impronta ecologica'' is the ecological footprint.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – The Malispini chronicle uses ''impronta'' for the image impressed by a die.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1316–1321 – Dante's ''Paradiso'' has the older form ''imprenta''.^(GDLI)

+ * 15th century – Cennino Cennini uses it for a foundry mould.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1554 – Iacopo Nardi uses it for a mark left by pressure.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1660 – The masculine ''impronto'' appears in Venetian in Marco Boschini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1764 – Francesco Algarotti uses it figuratively for a characteristic mark.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1968 – ''All'impronta'' “offhand” is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1970 – The sense “trial strike of a coin” enters the Zingarelli.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|imprint]], a mark left on a surface or a soft body by pressure; a [[m|en|footprint]]: ''Sul pavimento appena lavato c'erano le impronte del cane.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''impronta digitale'', a [[m|en|fingerprint]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A distinctive mark or character: ''Ogni stanza della casa porta l'impronta di sua madre.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A mould or cast for reproducing a shape, especially a dental [[m|en|impression]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(numismatics)'' The type and legend of a coin; the trial strike of a coin or medal; a seal in sealing wax made with a signet ring.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(geology)'' A trace left by a plant, an animal or a physical event on the surface of a sedimentary layer.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(ethology, rare)'' [[m|en|imprinting]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # In set phrases: ''impronta genetica'', a genetic fingerprint, ''impronta ecologica'', the ecological footprint.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[controimpronta]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[improntare]]

+ * [[imprimere]]

+ * [[orma]]

+ * [[fr|empreinte]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second ''impronta'', used only in ''all'impronta'' “offhand, improvising, at sight” (''tradurre all'impronta''), is recorded from 1968 and comes from ''impronto'', from the Latin phrase [[m|la|in promptu|t=at hand]], with the form of [[pronto]] laid over it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Zingarelli distinguishes ''impronta'', the general word for the mark left by pressure, from ''orma'', a track left on the ground by feet or paws, and ''traccia''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}