scientifico Italian · revision 39041

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=14th century, Ottimo commento|origins=la scientia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃenˈti.fi.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scientifico''' (feminine scientifica, masculine plural scientifici, feminine plural scientifiche)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[m|roa-oit|scentifico]] and [[m|roa-oit|siantifico]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|scientificus|t=producing knowledge]], a learned word first used by Boethius.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3398)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT gives the immediate source as Medieval Latin.^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin adjective is formed from [[m|la|scientia|t=knowledge]] and a derivative of [[m|la|faciō|t=to make, to do]], on the model of [[m|la|beneficus|t=beneficent]] and [[m|la|munificus|t=generous]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)^(Treccani 2011) DEI derives it instead from the present participle [[m|la|sciēns|t=knowing]], of [[m|la|sciō|t=to know]].^(DEI|3398)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Ottimo commento'' on Dante's ''Commedia'', of the 14th century, which says that gluttony draws the mind away from speculation and “scientific things” (''scientifiche cose'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Zingarelli dates the word to 1308.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the rise of modern science, ''scientifico'' referred to every kind of intellectual and speculative activity and to the theoretical disciplines; only gradually did it narrow to the experimental and natural sciences.^(GDLI) In the 14th century, in Francesco da Buti, the word could also mean a learned person, a scholar.^(DEI|3398)^(Zingarelli 2010) Tommaseo, in the 19th century, objected that a book or a language should not be called ''scientifico'', which properly meant “that makes knowledge”, but usage had already gone the other way.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Modern uses contrast the sciences with the humanities, as in ''studi scientifici'' and the ''liceo scientifico'', a secondary school with a scientific curriculum, often called simply ''lo scientifico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''La scientifica'' is the forensic branch of the police.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1308 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 14th century – The ''Ottimo commento'' uses ''scientifiche cose''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 14th century – The adverb ''scientificamente'' is recorded.^(DEI|3398)

+ * 20th century – ''Scientificizzare'' “to make scientific” is recorded.^(DEI|3398)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|scientific]]: of or relating to science and its methods: ''Mancano ancora prove scientifiche per questa ipotesi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Dealing with science, for specialists rather than the general public: ''una rivista scientifica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Rigorous, systematic, methodical: ''Ha organizzato il trasloco in modo scientifico.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Relating to the natural and exact sciences, as opposed to the [[m|en|humanities]]: ''materie scientifiche''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(education, colloquial)'' The ''[[liceo]] scientifico'', a secondary school with a scientific curriculum.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scientificamente]]

+ * [[scientificità]]

+ * [[scientificizzare]]

+ * [[antiscientifico]]

+ * [[prescientifico]]

+ * [[parascientifico]]

+ * [[scientifismo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scienza]]

+ * [[scienziato]]

+ * [[la|scientificus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Scopone scientifico'' is a variety of the card game ''scopone'' in which all forty cards are dealt to the players.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}