violenza Italian · revision 39171

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1282, Restoro d'Arezzo|origins=la vis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /vjoˈlɛn.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''violenza''' ''f'' (plural violenze)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|violenzia]], [[roa-oit|violença]] and [[roa-oit|violentia]].^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|violentia|t=violence, impetuosity]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun was formed from [[m|la|violentus|t=violent]],^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) which Nocentini derives from [[m|la|vīs|t=force, violence]] and DELI connects with [[m|la|violō|t=to violate]], formed like [[m|la|opulentus]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) The corresponding [[fr|violence]] is recorded from 1215.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo's treatise of 1282, and DELI's in Dante, 1300–1313.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The early sense was brutal force that compels a person or a thing against its will.^(TLIO) In the ''Paradiso'' Dante asks how ''la vïolenza altrui'', violence done by others, can lessen one's merit,^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) and Francesco da Buti, before 1406, defines ''violenza'' as force used to the harm of others.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From Boccaccio, 1348–1353, the word also means a violent act.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian already had ''fare'' or ''usare violenza'' for rape, and spoke of the violence of a storm or of a strong medicine.^(TLIO)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Later legal language defined ''violenza carnale'', a term in use by 1899, and ''violenza privata'', coercion of another person.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ''Dolce violenza'', gentle insistence that makes someone accept something, probably comes from French ''faire une douce violence'' (1740); Segneri had ''amabile violenza'' in 1686.^(DELI 1999) ''Non violenza'' translates French ''non-violence'' (about 1920).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses the word.^(TLIO)

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

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a violent act.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1406 – Francesco da Buti defines it as force used to the harm of others.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1686 – Segneri writes of ''amabile violenza''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1899 – ''Violenza carnale'' appears in the title of a legal study by A. Mortara.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1920 – ''Non violenza'' is formed after French ''non-violence''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|violence]]: the use of physical force, or a tendency to use it, to impose one's will on others: ''La violenza non risolve nulla.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Harshness or aggressiveness of words, gestures or manners: ''la violenza delle sue accuse''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Great force or intensity of a natural event: ''la violenza della tempesta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A violent act against someone, physical or psychological, ''fare dolce violenza'' is to persuade someone gently but firmly.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(law)'' [[m|en|rape]], sexual assault (''violenza carnale'', ''violenza sessuale''); ''violenza privata'' is the crime of forcing someone to do or omit something.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[iperviolenza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[violento]]

+ * [[violentare]]

+ * [[violare]]

+ * [[nonviolenza]]

+ * [[la|violentia]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Farsi violenza'' means to force oneself to act against one's own impulses.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Violenza domestica'' is abuse within the family or a couple.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}