dipartimento Italian · revision 38524

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1691|origins=fr départir}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /di.par.tiˈmen.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dipartimento''' ''m'' (plural dipartimenti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ In its modern senses it is [[bor|fr|département]], from [[m|fr|départir|t=to divide into parts]], from [[m|fr|partir|t=to divide]] with the prefix [[m|fr|dé-]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The French verb continues Late Latin [[m|la-lat|dēpartiō|alt=dēpartīre|t=to divide in two]].^(LEI|19, 1194) The LEI dates the French word in the sense “part of the administration given to a minister” to 1680, and in the sense “administrative division” to 1765.^(LEI|19, 1194)

+

+ An Old Italian [[m|roa-oit|dipartimento]] “separation, departure”, formed from [[dipartire]] with [[-mento]], had existed since about 1260; the borrowed word took over its form.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|19, 1194) The university department owes its spread to the prestige of British and American universities.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini, GRADIT and Zingarelli date the borrowed word to 1691 or before.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI's first record is from Bernardo Tanucci (1748), for a ministry.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After the French Revolution divided France into ''départements'' in 1790, the word was used from 1796 for these districts and for those of the Italian states organised on the French model under Napoleon.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) From 1813 it named the coastal zones under a naval command, such as the ''dipartimento dell'Alto Tirreno''.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Already in 1848 the word is found for a group of chairs in a university, but the modern ''dipartimento universitario'' grew mainly under Anglo-American influence.^(DELI 1999) In the United States the federal ministries are ''dipartimenti'', and the ''Dipartimento di Stato'' is the foreign ministry.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The adjective ''dipartimentale'' is attested from 1798.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1260 – Brunetto Latini uses Old Italian ''dipartimento'' for departure.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1691 – The borrowed word is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1748 – Bernardo Tanucci uses it for a ministry.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1796 – It is used for an administrative district of France.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1798 – ''Dipartimentale'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1813 – Stratico uses it for a naval coastal district.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1848 – It is recorded for a group of university chairs.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|department]], a section of a ministry, public office or firm with its own functions: ''Lavora nel dipartimento risorse umane.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A university department, grouping teaching and research in related subjects: ''il dipartimento di fisica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # An administrative [[m|en|district]], especially one of the French ''départements''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In the United States, a federal executive department; in some countries, a [[ministero|alt=ministry]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(military)'' Each of the coastal districts of the Italian navy.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dipartimentale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dipartire]]

+ * [[fr|département]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The older ''dipartimento'' “departure, separation”, and euphemistically “death”, from ''dipartire'', is obsolete; dictionaries list it as a separate word.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The TLIO records it from Brunetto Latini's ''Rettorica'' (c. 1260).^(TLIO)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}