pervaso

Pervaso is the past participle of the Italian verb pervadere, meaning to permeate or to spread through. In Italian, pervaso is used as an adjective or passive participle to describe something that has been permeated or filled through by a substance, feeling, influence, or idea. It is commonly encountered in literary and formal prose to convey a sense of thorough infiltration, whether literal or metaphorical.

Grammatical forms: masculine singular pervaso; feminine singular pervasa; masculine plural pervasi; feminine plural pervase. As a passive participle it typically combines with essere to express a state resulting from a previous action (for example, La casa era pervasa dal fumo). When used attributively, it agrees with the noun it modifies.

Etymology: from Latin pervadere, formed from per- through and vadere to go. It is related to other Romance terms for permeation but is primarily a feature of Italian.

Usage notes: pervaso can pair with prepositions to indicate content, as in pervaso di odore or pervaso dall’umidità. It is largely literary or elevated in tone, and is not a noun. It should not be confused with permeato, which is more common in everyday Italian; pervaso emphasizes thoroughness of infiltration rather than merely diffusion.