azione

Azione is the Italian noun meaning action, deed, or activity. It derives from the Latin actio and is used across a wide range of contexts. As a feminine noun, its plural form is azioni.

In everyday language, azione denotes physical movement, an act performed, or a sequence of events. In philosophy and the social sciences, it often refers to intentional conduct by an agent, emphasizing agency and responsibility rather than mere occurrences.

In legal use, azione designates a legal action or lawsuit, including civil and criminal proceedings, with phrases such as azione civile or azione penale.

In science, particularly in physics, azione translates the English term “action” as in the action principle used in Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms. Italian physics texts describe the action as the functional whose extremum yields the equations of motion.

In the performing arts and filmmaking, azione is the cue shouted by a director to begin a scene or take, equivalent to the English “Action!”

In contemporary Italian politics, Azione is the name of a liberal political party founded in 2019 by Carlo Calenda. It positions itself as a centrist, pro-European force and often seeks coalitions with other liberal and progressive groups.