edificato

Edificato is the past participle of the Italian verb edificare, meaning to build or to construct. In contemporary Italian, it functions primarily as an adjective and in compound tenses as part of the passive voice, conveying that something has been built or erected. It is commonly used to describe buildings, districts, or infrastructure, and appears in historical, architectural, and urban planning contexts.

Etymology and related forms: Edificato derives from the Latin aedificare, from aedificium (a building). Related terms include edificio (building), edificazione (construction/edification), and edificare (to build).

Usage notes: The word agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number (edificio edificato, casa edificata, quartiere edificato; edificata, edificati, edificato). It can denote condition or provenance, as in describing a structure that was erected in a specific period, for example, “un edificio edificato nel XVII secolo.” It also appears in phrases indicating development status of land, such as “ area edificata” (developed area) versus “area non edificata” (undeveloped area).

Contexts: In architectural history, edifice descriptions often use edificato to indicate when a structure was constructed. In archaeology, it may refer to remains that have been built or rebuilt in the past. In property and urban planning, the term helps distinguish developed zones from rural or undeveloped land.

See also: edificio, edificación, edificazione, edificare, edification.