risorsa Italian · revision 39251

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1576, Francesco Marchi|origins=la resurgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /riˈzor.sa/, /riˈzɔr.sa/, /riˈsor.sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''risorsa''' ''f'' (plural risorse)^(Wiktionary)

+ An older adapted form [[m|roa-oit|risursa]] is recorded in Ottaviano Targioni Tozzetti in 1802.^(Prati 1951|843) Variants with doubled /s/, ''rissórsa'', also occur.^(GDLI|16, 844)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|ressource]], a noun formed on [[fro|resourdre|t=to rise again]], which continues [[la|resurgō|t=to rise again]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Zingarelli and Gabrielli explain the French noun as the feminine past participle of the verb used as a noun.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) The French word is recorded from 1160, in the form [[m|fro|resorse]].^(GRADIT 2003) Devoto explains the sense from the image of water welling up again, which led to that of a source of supply or income.^(Devoto 1968)^(DELI 1999) Nocentini likewise gives the first sense as a spring, a source of provisions.^(Nocentini 2010) In the 17th century the raw French form [[m|fr|resource]] was sometimes used in Italian.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The Latin verb is [[m|la|surgō|t=to rise]] with the prefix [[m|la|re-]];^(Nocentini 2010) the simple verb is itself a compound of [[m|la|regō|t=to direct, stretch]].^(de Vaan 2008) The same Latin verb is continued in [[risorgere]] and gave the learned [[resurrezione]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ After an isolated example in the letters of Francesco Marchi, who died in 1576, the word reappears in 1746 in Marco Maria Serra and Giovanni Luca Pallavicini.^(DELI 1999) Marchi wrote that “the soldiers have no other resources left except to go and drink at the seashore” (''Li soldati non hanno più altre risorse, se non andare a bevere alla marina''), that is, no way out.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word spread in Napoleonic times in writing on politics and economics, against the opposition of the purists, which lasted a long time.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo objected that Italian had no ''sorsa'' for a spring, while Gherardini defended the word in 1847 as long and generally established in Italy; as late as 1863 Carducci mocked its many meanings in an essay on “the resources” of San Miniato al Tedesco.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ The sense “means that can bring income or wealth” is recorded before 1835 in Melchiorre Delfico, and ''uomo di molte risorse'', a person who can get out of difficult situations, in 1959.^(DELI 1999) ''Risorse umane'' is a calque of English ''human resources'', recorded in the press in 1984.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI|16, 844) In computing the word names each part of a system, such as the memory or a printer.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1576 – An isolated example in the letters of Francesco Marchi.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ * 1746 – Marco Maria Serra and Giovanni Luca Pallavicini use ''risorsa''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1802 – The variant ''risursa'' is recorded.^(Prati 1951|843)

+ * Before 1835 – The sense “source of wealth” appears in Melchiorre Delfico.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1847 – Gherardini defends the word against the purists.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1863 – Carducci mocks the Gallicism.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Uomo di molte risorse'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1984 – ''Risorse umane'' appears in ''La Repubblica''.^(GDLI|16, 844)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A means by which a need or a difficulty can be met; in the plural especially money and material [[m|en|means]]: ''In poche settimane avevamo esaurito tutte le risorse.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A quality, talent or ability a person can draw on: ''Mia sorella ha risorse che nessuno immagina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A source of wealth or production for a place or country: ''Il legname è la principale risorsa di quella valle.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(ecology)'' In the plural, the biological energy available in an environment as food for its species.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(computing)'' Each of the hardware or software components of a system.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[risorgere]]

+ * [[resurrezione]]

+ * [[fr|ressource]]

+ * [[la|resurgo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common expressions are ''risorse naturali'', ''risorse rinnovabili'' (renewable resources) and ''risorse umane'', which also names a company's personnel department.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}