abito Italian · revision 38728

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250, Venetian Pamphilus|origins=la habeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈa.bi.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''abito''' ''m'' (plural abiti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|habitus|t=bearing, condition, dress]], a noun formed on [[m|la|habeō|t=to have, hold]] in its sense “to be in a state, to behave”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) In Medieval Latin the noun was also the dress of a monk.^(DEI|11) Isidore of Seville explained the word from having something: knowledge in the mind, strength in the body, clothing about the body.^(GDLI|1, 44) The same Latin word gave [[fr|habit]], which first meant a monk's robe and passed into English as [[m|en|habit]], and [[es|hábito]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ De Vaan derives the verb from a Proto-Italic verb meaning “has taken, holds”, from a root [[ine-pro|*gʰh₁bʰ-|t=to take]], but he also allows that it may be a loanword from outside Indo-European.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian translation of the ''Pamphilus'', about 1250.^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The oldest senses are habitual practice, an inner disposition, a person's bearing, and dress.^(TLIO) DELI dates “garment” to Bono Giamboni (before 1292) and “habit, disposition” to the Italian ''Tesoro'' of the late 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses the word for dress (“All'abito ne sembri / essere alcun di nostra terra prava”, “by your dress you seem one of our wicked city”) and for bearing (before 1321).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|1, 44) The sense “religious habit” is recorded in Passavanti in 1354, with the phrase ''prendere l'abito'' “to enter a religious order”, and the proverb ''l'abito non fa il monaco'' is old: the TLIO has it as “the habit makes neither monk nor friar, nor arms the knight”.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) The philosophical senses, a disposition to be or act in a certain way, come from the language of medieval Scholasticism, especially Thomas Aquinas.^(GDLI|1, 44)

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+ Modern science added the body's constitution in medicine, the set of an organism's features in biology, the plumage of birds in zoology, and the usual shape of a crystal in mineralogy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) Derivatives include ''abitudine'' “habit” (1292–1293), ''abituale'' (1304–1307), ''abituare'' (1322), ''sottabito'' (1712) and ''soprabito'' “overcoat” (1716).^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – ''Abito'' appears in the Venetian ''Pamphilus''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “garment”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The Italian ''Tesoro'' uses it for “habit, disposition”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a person's bearing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1354 – Passavanti uses it for the religious habit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1716 – ''Soprabito'' “overcoat” is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|garment]] worn over underwear; a man's [[m|en|suit]] or a woman's dress: ''Per la cena di gala serve un abito scuro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The dress that marks a condition or profession, especially the religious [[m|en|habit]]: ''Ha preso l'abito a vent'anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A habit, a disposition, natural or acquired: ''abito mentale'', a frame of mind.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' In Aristotelian philosophy, a disposition to be or to act in a certain way.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' Bearing, appearance.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(medicine, biology)'' The constitution of the body; the set of features of an organism.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(zoology)'' The coat or [[m|en|plumage]] of an animal, which may change with the season.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mineralogy)'' The usual shape of a crystal.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abitino]]

+ * [[soprabito]]

+ * [[sottabito]]

+ * [[abituale]]

+ * [[abituare]]

+ * [[disabituare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[abitudine]]

+ * [[abitare]]

+ * [[avere]]

+ * [[la|habitus]]

+ * [[fr|habit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Gettare l'abito alle ortiche'' means to leave the religious life, and ''l'abito non fa il monaco'' that appearances can deceive.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Abito'' is also the first person singular present of [[abitare]] “to live”, a different word with the same stress.^(Wikizionario)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}