genio Italian · revision 38820

+ Italian has two words spelled ''genio'': the guardian spirit, natural talent and the gifted person, from Latin ''genius'', and the military engineers, from French ''génie''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI and GRADIT number them 1 and 2.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ {{homograph|1|genius; guardian spirit}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1327, Cecco d'Ascoli|origins=la gignō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈd͡ʒɛ.njo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''genio''' ''m'' (plural geni)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The spirit and the talent are a learned word, [[bor|la|genius|t=guardian deity; inclination]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1784)^(Wiktionary) In Latin the word named the personal deity who accompanies each person from birth, and so a person's character and inclination.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) It is related to [[m|la|genus|t=birth, race]] and to [[m|la|gignō|t=to beget]], from [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|t=to beget]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) [[fr|génie]] and [[es|genio]] are the same learned word.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) Körting thought the meanings were influenced by [[m|la|ingenium|t=talent, wit]], and the GDLI notes that the Late Latin word already competed with it in the sense “natural gift”.^(Körting 1907)^(GDLI|6, 665)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Cecco d'Ascoli's ''Acerba'' (before 1327), for the deity who, the Romans believed, guarded each man through his life and shaped his character.^(TLIO) DELI's first record is a gloss of Luigi Pulci (before 1484): ''Genio: lo iddio che nasce insieme coll'uomo'', “the god who is born together with man”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|6, 665)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word settled in Italian in the Renaissance, which widened its meanings: “natural talent or bent” (1525, Mario Equicola), “liking, taste” (1558, Annibal Caro), an abstract power that presides over the events of life (1533, Folengo), and “salient character” (before 1598, Paruta).^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) ''Andare a genio'', to be to someone's liking, keeps the sense “taste”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ French use then added “inborn intelligence”, as against learned skill (''ingegno'') and talent in one field.^(DELI 1999) In the 18th century ''genio'' came to mean an exceptional creative power and then the person who has it: DELI finds the person in Magalotti (1661) and the power in Salvini (1685), and Nocentini credits the modern sense to the French Enlightenment.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The purists objected, though Leopardi thought the complaints groundless.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|6, 665) The phrase ''genio della lingua'' translates French ''génie des langues''.^(DELI 1999) The word also names a magic spirit, such as the one in Aladdin's lamp.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) English borrowed ''genio'' itself in 1609 for the deity, a use now obsolete.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1327 – Cecco d'Ascoli uses ''genio'' for the guardian deity.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1484 – Pulci glosses ''genio'' as the god born with each man.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1525 – Mario Equicola uses it for “natural bent, talent”.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1558 – Annibal Caro uses it for “liking, taste”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1609 – English ''genio'' “guardian spirit” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1661 – Magalotti uses ''genio'' for a gifted person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1685 – Salvini uses it for supreme creative talent.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1908 – ''Genialoide'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(mythology)'' In antiquity, the guardian [[m|en|spirit]] of a person, a people, a city or a place: ''il genio di Atene''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A power or person thought to influence someone's life: ''essere il buon genio di qualcuno'', to be a good influence on someone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A magic spirit, a [[m|en|genie]]: ''il genio uscito dalla lampada''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The distinctive character of a people or a language: ''il genio della lingua francese''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Aptitude, talent: ''Ha il genio degli affari.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Exceptional creative intelligence: ''un'invenzione di genio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A person who has it, a [[m|en|genius]]; also as hyperbolic praise: ''Hai riparato tutto in dieci minuti, sei un genio!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Liking, taste: ''Quel colore non è di mio genio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[geniale]]

+ * [[genialità]]

+ * [[genialoide]]

+ * [[congeniale]]

+ * [[contraggenio]]

+ * [[geniaccio]]

+ * [[genietto]]

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+ {{homograph|2|military engineers}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1768|origins=la genius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈd͡ʒɛ.njo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''genio''' ''m'' (plural geni)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The corps of engineers is [[bor|fr|génie]], which took this sense in 1759.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1784) The French word, the same as genio 1, first meant the art of attacking and defending fortresses under the influence of [[m|fr|ingénieur|t=engineer]], of which it looks like a shortening, and then the corps itself, military or civil.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Devoto lists the two words separately.^(Devoto 1968)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''corpo del genio'' in the decrees of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany of 1768, and then the minutes of the provisional Municipality of Venice of 1798.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before the French word, Italian called these officers ''ingegneri'' (1752, ''Ingegneri di S.M.''; 1775, ''Corpo reale degli ingegneri'').^(DELI 1999) The soldier of the corps, the ''geniere'', is a recent Italian formation (1936 in DEI, 1939 in DELI).^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1784)^(Nocentini 2010) Beside the army's ''genio militare'', the word names civil bodies too, such as the ''genio civile'', which plans and supervises public works.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1759 – French ''génie'' takes the military sense.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1768 – ''Corpo del genio'' in Tuscan decrees.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1798 – The word is used by the Municipality of Venice.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1936 – ''Geniere'' “soldier of the engineers” is recorded.^(DEI|1784)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(military)'' Often with a capital letter, the corps of [[m|en|engineers]], which plans and builds works of military engineering: ''un ufficiale del Genio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A technical body in charge of public works: ''il genio civile''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[geniere]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ingegno]]

+ * [[ingegnere]]

+ * [[genere]]

+ * [[la|genius]]

+ * [[fr|génie]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural of ''genio'' is ''geni'', rarely ''genii''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) ''Colpo di genio'' and ''lampo di genio'' mean a brilliant idea.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}