conoscenza Italian · revision 38725

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1219, Breve di Montieri|origins=la cognōscō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ko.noʃˈʃɛn.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''conoscenza''' ''f'' (plural conoscenze)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|conoscenzia]], [[roa-oit|caunoscenza]], [[roa-oit|canoscenza]] and [[roa-oit|cognoscenza]].^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|cognōscentia|t=knowledge, wisdom]], formed on [[m|la|cognōscēns]], the present participle of [[m|la|cognōscō|t=to get to know]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) GDLI calls it a learned word formed like [[essenza]] and [[presenza]], but the LEI treats it as a continuation of the Late Latin noun and separates the forms with ⟨cogn-⟩, which keep the classical spelling, from those with ⟨con-⟩, which follow the reduced form the verb has in most of Romance.^(LEI|15, 517)^(GDLI)

+

+ The noun lives on in [[rm|cugnuschentscha]], [[fro|cognoissance]] and in medieval Spanish and Portuguese; the ⟨con-⟩ type is wider, with [[fr|connaissance]] (from about 1100), [[pro|conoisenza]], [[ca|coneixença]], [[es|conocencia]] and [[pt|conhecença]].^(LEI|15, 517)^(Körting 1907) Sabatini–Coletti explains the open first vowel of [[m|roa-oit|canoscenza]] as perhaps due to the southern dialects.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is ''conoscenzia'' in the Breve di Montieri, a Tuscan document of 1219; the form ''conoscenza'' follows in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) The oldest sense the TLIO gives is wisdom: skill and insight in understanding the things of the world and of the spirit, and also the faculty of telling one thing from another.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Sicilian and Tuscan love poetry of the 13th century ''conoscenza'' was also a courtly virtue, the wisdom of the lady.^(TLIO) Bonagiunta Orbicciani uses it, before 1257, for control of one's own senses and mind, the sense of modern ''perdere conoscenza'' “to lose consciousness”.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) In the ''Vita Nuova'' (1292–1293) Dante's ''caunoscenza'' is self-awareness, and in the ''Convivio'' (1304–1307) wisdom and learning.^(LEI|15, 517) In the ''Inferno'' the damned say that ''tutta morta / fia nostra conoscenza'' (“all our knowledge will be dead”) once the door of the future is closed.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Machiavelli has ''avere cognoscenza'' for a sexual relationship (1525).^(LEI|15, 517) The sense “a person one knows” is recorded only in 1825, in Filippo Pananti.^(DELI 1999) ''Una vecchia conoscenza della polizia'' is a repeat offender,^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) and ''per conoscenza'' marks a copy of a letter sent to someone other than the addressee.^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|Supplement 2009)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – ''Conoscenzia'' appears in the Breve di Montieri.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''conoscenza''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1257 – Bonagiunta uses it for control of one's senses.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1292–1293 – Dante's ''Vita Nuova'' has ''caunoscenza'' “self-awareness”.^(LEI|15, 517)

+ * 1304–1307 – Dante's ''Convivio'' uses ''conoscenza'' for wisdom.^(LEI|15, 517)

+ * 1525 – Machiavelli uses ''avere cognoscenza'' for a sexual relationship.^(LEI|15, 517)

+ * 1825 – Filippo Pananti uses ''conoscenza'' for a person one knows.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|knowledge]], awareness of a fact: ''Non ero a conoscenza del cambio di orario.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Knowledge of a subject, command; in the plural, notions, what one knows: ''La sua conoscenza della chimica ci è stata molto utile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' [[m|en|cognition]], the faculty and process of knowing, ''teoria della conoscenza'', epistemology.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|consciousness]], control of one's senses: ''perdere conoscenza'', ''riprendere conoscenza''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|acquaintance]], the fact of knowing a person: ''Ho fatto la sua conoscenza a una cena da amici.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person one knows; in the plural, contacts, connections: ''Grazie alle sue conoscenze ha trovato subito lavoro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[conoscente]]

+ * [[conoscere]]

+ * [[conoscitivo]]

+ * [[la|cognōscō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''venire a conoscenza di'' “to learn of”, ''portare a conoscenza'' “to inform”, ''fare la conoscenza di'' “to meet” and ''per conoscenza'' (''p.c.'') on a copy of a letter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}