universo Italian · revision 38804

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1304–1308, Dante}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /u.niˈvɛr.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''universo''' ''m'' (plural universi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|ūniversus|t=all together, whole]], a learned borrowing; the noun is the Latin neuter used as a noun, [[m|la|ūniversum|t=the whole world]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin adjective is a compound of [[m|la|ūni-|t=one]] and [[m|la|versus|t=turned]], the past participle of [[m|la|vertō|t=to turn]], so literally “turned all in one direction”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) In philosophical Latin the neuter noun rendered [[grc|ὅλος|alt=τὸ ὅλον|tr=tò hólon|t=the whole]].^(DELI 1999) The same Latin word gave [[fr|univers]] and [[es|universo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI)

+

+ Its derivative [[m|la|ūniversālis]] was coined by Quintilian to render [[grc|καθολικός|tr=katholikós|t=general]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In medieval Latin [[m|la|ūniversitās|t=the whole]] came to mean a corporation, and the Bologna [[la-med|universitas scholarium]], at the end of the 12th century, gave [[università]] its modern sense.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective, meaning “whole, taken in all its parts”, is in Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308) and then in Giovanni Villani; the noun “the whole of matter spread through space and time” follows in Dante's ''Commedia'' (1300–1313).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Dante quotes the Psalm ''quanto è ammirabile lo nome tuo ne l'universa terra'', “how admirable is your name in all the earth”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The opening of the ''Paradiso'' has the noun: ''La gloria di colui che tutto move / per l'universo penetra'', “the glory of Him who moves all things penetrates the universe”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Boccaccio uses it for the earth and its people (1348–1353).^(DELI 1999) The adjective survived in literary use, as in ''l'universo mondo'', the whole world.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The wider sense “everything that exists” is dated 1891.^(DELI 1999) In modern use the noun also names a person's or a group's own world, real or imaginary (''l'universo dell'infanzia''), the world of an artist's work, and in statistics the whole set of cases a study covers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Cosmology speaks of open and closed universes.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses the noun in the ''Commedia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses the adjective in the ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for the earth and its inhabitants.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – The sense “all that exists” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Universiade'' is coined in Milan from ''università'' and ''olimpiade''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|universe]]: all things that exist and the space that contains them.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The whole of the heavenly bodies and the space they occupy: ''l'espansione dell'universo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The earth, the world, especially all humankind.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person's or a group's own world, real or imagined: ''Quel romanzo descrive l'universo dei pescatori.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(statistics)'' The whole set of individual cases to which a statistical study applies; a [[m|en|population]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(literary)'' Whole, all, taken as a whole: ''l'universo mondo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[universale]]

+ * [[universalismo]]

+ * [[universalista]]

+ * [[universalità]]

+ * [[universalizzare]]

+ * [[universiade]]

+ * [[università]]

+ * [[universitario]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[uno]]

+ * [[verso]]

+ * [[la|ūniversus]]

+ * [[fr|univers]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Some sayings use the noun as a hyperbole: ''pare che venga giù l'universo'' is said of a violent downpour, and ''credersi il padrone dell'universo'' of someone who wants everything their way.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}