sito Italian · revision 38802

+ Italian has three words ''sito'', all learned borrowings of [[la|situs]]: “place”, “bad smell” and “situated”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ {{homograph|1|place, site}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1321, Dante|origins=la sinō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsi.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sito''' ''m'' (plural siti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The place is [[bor|la|situs|t=position, site]], a learned borrowing.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun comes from the past participle of [[m|la|sinō|t=to put down; to leave, let]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini sees an older meaning “put in a place, settle” behind the verb, compared with [[sa|क्षेति|tr=kṣéti|t=lives, dwells]] and [[grc|κτίζω|tr=ktízō|t=to found, colonize]].^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan derives [[m|la|sinō]] from [[ine-pro|*tḱei-|t=to build]], with a shift from “let someone dwell” to “put in place”, but the root is disputed.^(de Vaan 2008) The same Latin noun gave [[fr|site]] and [[es|sitio]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Dante (before 1321), with the sense “place, locality”;^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Zingarelli dates the word to 1282.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) In the ''Inferno'' Dante describes how ''lo sito di ciascuna valle'' slopes, one bank rising and the other falling.^(GDLI|19, 105)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the noun meant the position of a place, a building or a town, often with an eye to its defence, as when Villani says Fiesole seemed strong ''per sito'', by its position.^(GDLI|19, 105) Boccaccio uses it for the layout of a room.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Old variants include ''sido'', ''sitio'' and ''sitto''.^(GDLI|19, 105)

+

+ The old sense “position, situation” is now obsolete and “place” is literary or technical (''un sito archeologico'').^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Ballistics has ''linea di sito'' and ''angolo di sito'', for the line from the gun to the target and its angle with the horizon.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) Biology uses it for the point of a protein, an enzyme or a gene where a process takes place, and, from the 1990s it is above all a [[m|en|website]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) French [[m|fr|site]] is recorded from 1530.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – First record according to Zingarelli.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''sito'' “place”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1530 – French ''site'' (''sit'') is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Position, [[m|en|location]]; layout, appearance.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Place, [[m|en|site]], locality: ''Hanno trovato un sito ideale per il campeggio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(Internet)'' A [[m|en|website]]: ''Le informazioni sono sul sito del comune.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(biology)'' The point of a protein, an enzyme or a gene where an important process takes place: ''sito attivo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(ballistics)'' In ''linea di sito'', the line from the gun to the target, and ''angolo di sito'', the angle it makes with the horizon.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ {{homograph|2|bad smell}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1342, Domenico Cavalca|origins=la situs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsi.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sito''' ''m'' (plural siti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The smell is [[bor|la|situs|t=mould, decay]], a learned borrowing; the Latin meant properly “neglect, the state of something left abandoned”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) DELI and Nocentini take it as the same Latin word as the noun “position”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan instead treats this sense as a separate word and links it with [[la|sitis|t=thirst]], from a reconstructed [[ine-pro|*dʰgʷʰi-tu-|t=destruction, perishing]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Meyer-Lübke records an old form [[roa-oit|seto|t=stench]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Domenico Cavalca (before 1342); GRADIT dates it before 1320.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Cavalca writes of a place where little water is found, ''d'un fortissimo sito come di bitume'', “with a very strong smell, like bitumen”.^(GDLI|19, 106)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is Tuscan and literary.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) It could name any smell, even a pleasant one, as in Soderini's ''il buon sito'' of fragrant plants, but it is mostly a stale or bad one.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GDLI|19, 106) Pirandello writes of the ''sito di stalla'', the smell of the stable, rising from a crowd of peasants.^(GDLI|19, 106)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1320 – First record according to GRADIT.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1342 – Cavalca uses ''sito'' “bad smell”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(regional, Tuscan)'' A bad [[m|en|smell]], a [[m|en|stench]]: ''In cantina c'era un sito di muffa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sitaccio]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|situated}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1342, Domenico Cavalca|origins=la sinō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsi.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sito''' (feminine sita, masculine plural siti, feminine plural site)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[bor|la|situs|t=placed, situated]], the past participle of [[m|la|sinō|t=to put; to let]], a learned borrowing.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Spanish has the same word, [[m|es|sito]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Domenico Cavalca (before 1342); Zingarelli dates it 1334.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Cavalca says that the virtuous mind ''è sita in alto'', is placed on high, and so is always serene.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Tommaseo noted in 1861 that the word was not in general use but was still alive among lawyers.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) It remains the word of bureaucratic and notarial language for the location of a building or a piece of land.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1334 – First record according to Zingarelli.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1342 – Cavalca uses ''sito'' “situated”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(bureaucratic)'' [[m|en|situated]], located, especially of real estate: ''il terreno sito in località Poggio''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[situare]]

+ * [[situazione]]

+ * [[la|situs]]

+ * [[la|sinō]]

+ * [[fr|site]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DEI also lists a learned prefix ''sito-'', from [[grc|σῖτος|tr=sîtos|t=grain, food]], found in medical terms such as ''sitofobia'' and ''sitomania''.^(DEI|3511)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}