Popolare

Popolare is an Italian adjective meaning “popular,” “of the people,” or “folk,” and it is used to describe things connected with the general public or with ordinary people. It can refer to culture, art, or language that is accessible and widely known, for example arte popolare (folk art), musica popolare (folk music), canzone popolare (folk song), and lingua popolare (vernacular language).

Etymologically, popolare derives from the Latin populus, people, and developed in Italian with the familiar suffix -are. While primarily an adjective, it also appears in certain noun forms within proper names and fixed expressions, especially in capitalization as part of institutional titles.

In institutional and political usage, the term appears in several common phrases. Banca popolare denotes a cooperative bank owned by its members, appealing to local communities. Partito popolare has been used for various political groupings that framed themselves as representing the people, most notably the Partito Popolare Italiano (PPI), founded by Luigi Sturzo in 1919, which operated in the early 20th century before the fascist era.

In modern Italian, popolari is often used to distinguish something meant for the general public from elite or specialized appeals. The word can describe media, culture, or institutions that aim to be broadly accessible, as in cinema popolare or letteratura popolare. As a cognate, it relates to the French populaire and the Spanish popular, reflecting shared Romance-language roots in meanings tied to the common people.

See also: populus, lingua popolare, cultura popolare, partito popolare, banca popolare.