visto Italian · revision 38697

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited, derivation|attested=14th century (participle); 1814 (noun)|origins=ine-pro *weyd-}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvis.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''visto''' ''m'' (plural visti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun is the past participle of [[vedere]] used as a noun, “seen (and approved)”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The participle is [[inh|la-vul|*vīsitus]], which replaced classical [[la|vīsus|t=seen]] on the model of participles such as [[m|la|positus|t=placed]];^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|4069)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also considers a form [[m|la-vul|*vīditus]].^(Wiktionary) “Vīsus” is the participle of [[m|la|videō|t=to see]], from [[itc-pro|*wissos]] and [[ine-pro|*widtós]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*weyd-|t=to see, to know]].^(Wiktionary) DEI takes the noun from [[es|visto]].^(DEI|4069)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The participle is recorded from the 14th century, in Giordano da Pisa and Matteo Villani;^(DEI|4069)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Petrarch speaks of a garment ''mai non visto altrove'' (“never seen elsewhere”).^(DEI|4069)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The noun, a signature of approval by a higher authority on a document from a lower one, is first recorded in 1814, in a proclamation from Udine.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Ugolini (1848) still rejected the noun as office jargon.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo noted that until recently ''visto'' had also been a formula with which the sovereign rejected a petition.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999) The verb ''vistare'' “to stamp with a visa” is recorded in 1877.^(DEI|4069) The ''visto consolare'', the consul's endorsement that makes a foreign passport valid for entry, appears in a dictionary in 1961, and ''visto'' alone now usually means a visa.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ The participle has several fixed uses: ''visto che'' “seeing that, since”, ''mai visto'' “unheard-of”, ''ben visto'' and ''mal visto'' “well or badly regarded”, and the printer's formula ''visto si stampi'' with which the last proofs are passed for press.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14th century – The participle ''visto'' is recorded.^(DEI|4069)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1814 – The noun appears in a proclamation from Udine.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1848 – Ugolini rejects it as bureaucratic jargon.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1877 – ''Vistare'' is recorded.^(DEI|4069)

+ * 1961 – ''Visto consolare'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(administration)'' An endorsement, the signature or stamp of an authority approving or acknowledging a document: ''La pratica aspetta il visto del direttore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|visa]], the permit a state gives to enter or leave its territory: ''Per quel paese serve il visto d'ingresso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Seen, looked at (from a given point of view): ''Vista dall'alto, la città sembra un presepe.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Considered, in view of (in absolute constructions): ''Visto il traffico, siamo partiti presto.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''Visto che'': since, seeing that: ''Visto che piove, restiamo a casa.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vistare]]

+ * [[benvisto]]

+ * [[malvisto]]

+ * [[stravisto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vedere]]

+ * [[vista]]

+ * [[veduto]]

+ * [[la|video]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Visto'' is also the usual past participle of ''vedere'', beside ''veduto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|4069) The phrase ''chi s'è visto s'è visto'' closes a matter for good: “that's the end of it”.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ An old literary ''visto'' “quick, nimble” is a different word, from Old French ''viste'' (modern ''vite''), as in Boccaccio's ''un lioncello presto e visto'', “a quick and nimble lion cub”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI) GDLI notes that ''viste'' is usually taken as expressive, like ''vispo'', and Devoto–Oli derive the Italian word from an old participle of ''vivere'', “lively”.^(GDLI)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}