Domanda

Domanda is a feminine Italian noun that primarily denotes a question or an inquiry, but it also has senses related to a request, a petition, or an application. In everyday language it is used for both asking something (porre una domanda) and for formal or legal/administrative requests (domanda di lavoro, domanda di visto, domanda di indennizzo).

In addition to its meaning of a question, domanda can refer to a formal request or claim. In this sense it appears in phrases like domanda giudiziaria (legal claim), domanda di partecipazione (application to participate), or domanda di licenza. In economics and social science, domanda is the term for demand, as in domanda di mercato or domanda aggregata, describing the quantity of goods or services that consumers are willing to buy at given prices.

Domanda is used in both neutral and specialized registers. The common verb meaning “to ask” is chiedere; domandare exists but is often considered literary, archaic, or formal, and is more likely to appear in legal language, fixed expressions, or older texts. The noun is always feminine plural domande, with the singular form domanda.

Etymology and related terms: domanda derives from a root connected to the Italian verb domandare and is cognate with terms in other Romance languages that express asking or requiring. The word is closely related to the concept of inquiry or petition in several cultural and legal contexts.