pensato

Pensato is the past participle of the Italian verb pensare, meaning to think. It is used to form compound tenses with the auxiliary avere, as in ho pensato (I thought) or hai pensato (you thought). With avere, the participle generally does not change for gender or number unless there is a preceding direct object, in which case it may agree: La cosa l'ho pensata (I thought about the thing), Il problema l'ho pensato (I thought about the problem).

As an adjective, pensato can mean “thought out” or “well considered.” When used in this descriptive sense, it agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies: una soluzione pensata (a considered/well-thought-out solution), un piano pensato (a considered plan), idee pensate (thought-out ideas). The feminine form is pensata, the masculine plural is pensati, and the feminine plural is pensate.

Etymology and cognates: pensato derives from the verb pensare, itself from Latin pensare, from a root related to pensum or pendere in the sense of weighing or considering. It has Romance-language cognates such as penser in French and pensar in Spanish and Portuguese. The word retains both a grammatical sense (past participle in tenses) and an adjectival sense (describing something that has been thought through).

Usage notes: Pensare takes an object in most tenses, but when a direct object precedes the verb, the participle may agree, influencing spelling for gender and number. When used with a preposition (pensare a qualcosa), the direct object is typically not involved in agreement. The term is common in everyday Italian as well as in formal writing.

See also: pensare, pensiero, etymology of pensare, agreement in Italian past participles.