scienza Italian · revision 39051

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1243, Guido Faba|origins=la sciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʃɛn.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scienza''' ''f'' (plural scienze)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote [[m|roa-oit|scienzia]], [[m|roa-oit|sienzia]] and [[m|roa-oit|scienga]];^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951|892)^(Wiktionary) ''scienzia'' lived on in popular speech.^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951|892)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|scientia|t=knowledge]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun, attested from Varro, is formed from [[m|la|sciēns|t=knowing]], the present participle of [[m|la|sciō|t=to know]], with the abstract suffix [[m|la|-ia]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) De Vaan thinks [[m|la|sciō]] is probably a back-formation from [[m|la|nesciō|t=not to know]]; if “know” grew out of “distinguish, decide”, the verb belongs to a root meaning “to cut”, [[ine-pro|*sekH-]] in the LIV.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini gives the same explanation, with comparisons from Hittite, and notes that the Latin verb itself survives in Romance only in [[sc|ischire]] and [[ro|ști]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The same learned word is [[fr|science]], the source of [[m|en|science]], and [[es|ciencia]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is from Guido Faba of Bologna (before 1243), in the general sense “knowledge, awareness”;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GRADIT dates the word to 1304–1308, in Dante's ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) There Dante calls ''scienza'' the final perfection of the soul, in which our final happiness lies.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For medieval writers ''scienza'' was knowledge in general, the unified learning that philosophy crowned, without the later split between scientific and philosophical knowledge.^(GDLI) In the ''Paradiso'' Beatrice tells Dante that understanding without remembering does not make ''scienza''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The modern sense, a body of knowledge about one order of phenomena based on method, study and experiment, is first recorded in Pietro Bembo (1525).^(DELI 1999) The religious sense, one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, is still listed.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ In 1960 the plural ''scienze'' is recorded as the school subject that covers the natural sciences, chemistry, biology and geography.^(DELI 1999) Familiar phrases include ''pozzo'' or ''arca di scienza'', a very learned person, and ''avere la scienza infusa'', said ironically of someone who thinks they know everything without having studied.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1243 – Guido Faba uses ''scienza'' for knowledge.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante's ''Convivio'' has the word.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ * 14th century – ''Scienziato'' and ''scientifico'' are recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1525 – Bembo uses it for an organized, methodical body of knowledge.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1960 – ''Scienze'' is recorded as a school subject.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|science]]: a body of knowledge, rigorously tested and systematically ordered, about a given range of phenomena, and the research that produces it: ''Negli ultimi decenni la scienza ha fatto enormi progressi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Especially in the plural, a group of [[disciplina|alt=disciplines]] sharing a field and methods: ''scienze naturali'', ''scienze politiche''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(education)'' In the plural, the school subject that covers biology, chemistry and earth sciences; at university, the faculty of mathematical, physical and natural sciences: ''Domani abbiamo il compito di scienze.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The scientific community and its research: ''Questa scoperta pone nuove domande alla scienza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[sapere|alt=Learning]], knowledge: ''Era un uomo di grande scienza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(theology)'' One of the seven gifts of the [[Spirito Santo|alt=Holy Spirit]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scienziato]]

+ * [[fantascienza]]

+ * [[pseudoscienza]]

+ * [[scientismo]]

+ * [[scientista]]

+ * [[bioscienza]]

+ * [[geoscienza]]

+ * [[nanoscienza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cosciente]]

+ * [[coscienza]]

+ * [[coscienzioso]]

+ * [[onnisciente]]

+ * [[sciente]]

+ * [[scientifico]]

+ * [[prescienza]]

+ * [[onniscienza]]

+ * [[sapere]]

+ * [[la|scientia]]

+ * [[fr|science]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Uomo di scienza'' means a scientist or, more loosely, a learned person.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Fantascienza'' is science fiction.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}