fase Italian · revision 39247

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1737, Tommaso Campailla|origins=grc φαίνω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfa.ze/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fase''' ''f'' (plural fasi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|φάσις|tr=phásis|t=appearance of a star]], from [[m|grc|φαίνομαι|tr=phaínomai|t=to appear]]; it was first a term of astronomy for the changing appearance of the Moon, from which came the sense “stage, period”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DEI gives [[fr|phase]] (1690; figurative from 1820) beside the Greek word.^(DEI|1603) English had [[m|en|phasis]] from 1660 and [[m|en|phase]] from 1812.^(GDLI|5, 703) The Greek verb is also the source of [[fenomeno]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Tommaso Campailla in 1737, for each of the aspects a celestial body shows according to its position in relation to the Sun and the Earth.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) He writes of “a phenomenon of phases” in bodies “that are deprived of innate light” (''fenomeno di fasi in queste avviene, / che destitute son di lume innato'').^(GDLI|5, 703)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, each of the successive stages of something, is recorded before 1798 in Francesco Milizia.^(DELI 1999) Purists resisted it: in 1855 Ugolini warned that ''fase'' was a term of astronomy and that phrases such as ''fasi della guerra'' should give way to native words, and Tommaseo called the use overworked.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Technical senses followed: in electricity in 1889, for the lag or lead of an alternating current, in chemistry in 1920, for a homogeneous state of a substance, and in engines in 1925 (''fase di scoppio'').^(DELI 1999) The verb [[sfasare]] (1935) and the instrument name [[fasometro]] (1900) are derived from it.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The figurative ''essere fuori fase'' “to be out of sorts” comes from the engine that is badly tuned.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1737 – Tommaso Campailla uses ''fase'' in astronomy.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1798 – Francesco Milizia uses the sense “stage”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1855 – Ugolini objects to the figurative use.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1889 – The electrical sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1920 – The chemical sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1925 – ''Fase di scoppio'' appears for an engine.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1935 – ''Sfasare'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(astronomy)'' Each of the aspects of the Moon or a planet according to the part lit by the Sun that is visible from the Earth: ''le fasi lunari''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|stage]] or period that differs from the one before: ''Il paese attraversa una fase di forte crescita.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Each stage of a sports competition: ''la fase eliminatoria''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(science, technology)'' Each of the intervals in a natural process or in the working of an engine: ''la fase di compressione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(physics)'' The angle that determines the position of a periodic quantity in its cycle; also each circuit of a polyphase system.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A physically homogeneous part of a heterogeneous system: ''la fase liquida''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(psychoanalysis)'' Each stage in the development of the libido.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sfasare]]

+ * [[sfasamento]]

+ * [[fasometro]]

+ * [[controfase]]

+ * [[fasico]]

+ * [[sottofase]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fenomeno]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''In fase di'' means “in the course of”: ''un ponte in fase di costruzione''.^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Essere fuori fase'' is said of a person who feels tired or out of sorts.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Old Italian had a separate masculine ''fase'', the Jewish Passover and its lamb, a learned word from [[hbo|פסח|tr=pesaḥ]], first recorded in a Sicilian text of 1373.^(TLIO)^(DEI|1603)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}