proiettile Italian · revision 38720

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1749, Italian translation of Chambers's Cyclopaedia|origins=la prōiciō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /proˈjɛt.ti.le/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''proiettile''' ''m'' (plural proiettili)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ GRADIT, Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti derive it [[af|it|proietto|-ile]], and DEI and GDLI take the adjective as a learned borrowing of [[la-new|prōiectilis]], from which the noun was formed.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DEI|3100)^(GDLI) Wiktionary gives the Latin word as Medieval Latin.^(Wiktionary) Its base [[proietto|t=projectile, shell]] is from [[la|prōiectus]], the past participle of [[m|la|prōiciō|t=to throw forward]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Devoto compares the formation of [[missile]], [[fissile]] and [[fittile]].^(Devoto 1968)

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+ GRADIT sets [[en|projectile]], of 1665, beside it, and DEI dates [[fr|projectile]] to 1762.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3100)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The noun is first recorded in 1749, in the Italian translation of Ephraim Chambers's ''Cyclopaedia'', for any body that can be fired from a gun.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3100)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The older ''proietto'', a body hurled through the air, especially from a gun, is in Galileo (1630–1631).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Proiettile'' became the general word, while ''proietto'' stayed the technical term of artillery;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) GRADIT calls the use of ''proiettile'' for a round fired from a weapon improper, though it is the everyday sense.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ In the 19th century Mazzini wrote of smuggling ''proiettili'' of a new design into Milan for the barricades.^(GDLI) DEI records ''proiettile tracciante'' “tracer bullet” in 1940.^(DEI|3100) Physics uses the word for a particle accelerated to bombard atomic nuclei, and everyday speech for anyone who moves very fast.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1630–1631 – Galileo uses ''proietto''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1665 – English ''projectile'' is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3100)

+ * 1749 – ''Proiettile'' appears in the Italian Chambers.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3100)

+ * About 1750 – Antonio Cocchi uses the adjective ''proiettile'' in physiology.^(DEI|3100)

+ * 1762 – French ''projectile'' is recorded.^(DEI|3100)

+ * 1940 – ''Proiettile tracciante'' is recorded.^(DEI|3100)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|projectile]]: any body thrown or launched through space: ''L'eruzione lanciò proiettili di lava fino al paese.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|bullet]] or shell fired from a gun: ''Il proiettile ha colpito il muro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person or thing that moves very fast: ''Il cane è corso fuori dal cancello come un proiettile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(physics)'' A particle accelerated to bombard atomic structures.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[proiettificio]]

+ * [[antiproiettile]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[proietto]]

+ * [[proiettare]]

+ * [[la|prōiciō]]

+ * [[en|projectile]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Proiettile'' is also a rare literary adjective meaning “propulsive”: Leopardi writes of the ''forza proiettile'' that sends a body upwards.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI) In 18th-century physiology Cocchi called ''moto proiettile'' the movement of fluids driven by the contraction of the vessels.^(GDLI)^(DEI|3100)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}