Previsione

Previsione is a noun in Italian referring to the act of foreseeing or predicting future events or conditions, as well as the result of that process—a forecast or projection. The term is widely used in science, technology, and everyday planning to denote an estimate of likely future states, not a guaranteed outcome. Etymology: from Latin praevīsio or praevīsum, meaning seeing beforehand, connected to prae- "before" and visio "vision".

Practically, previsione combines data, models, and reasoning to produce an expectation about the future. Methods range from qualitative scenario analysis and expert judgment to quantitative techniques such as statistical forecasting, econometric modeling, and machine learning. Forecasts may be point estimates or probabilistic, expressing uncertainty with confidence intervals or probability distributions.

Common domains include meteorology (previsioni del tempo), economics and finance (previsioni economiche), demography and public health (previsioni demografiche e sanitarie), energy and transportation planning, and disaster risk assessment. The quality of previsione depends on data quality, model validity, and the inherent unpredictability of complex systems. Forecasters often communicate limitations and uncertainty to policymakers and the public.

Historically, previsione has evolved from tentative judgments and divination to formalized forecast science. Today it plays a central role in policy, planning, risk management, and daily decision making.