processare

Processare is an Italian verb with two primary uses. In a legal context, it means to bring someone to trial or to prosecute, i.e., to initiate or pursue judicial proceedings against a person or organization. In this sense the act is done by authorities such as prosecutors or judges. The passive form esserne processato is used for someone who has been prosecuted. In everyday legal language, expressions like avviare un processo contro qualcuno (to initiate a lawsuit against someone) or citare in giudizio someone are common alternatives, with processare often appearing in formal or juridical writing.

In a different domain, processare also appears in computing and administrative language as a sense of handling or transforming information. Here it means to process data or documents, as in processare i dati or processare un file. This usage is a calque from English and is widespread in technical contexts, though in standard Italian many speakers prefer elaborare, trattare, or gestire i dati for clarity. The past participle in this sense is processato, as in i dati sono stati processati.

Etymology and scope: the verb derives from the noun processo (process, trial), via the suffix -are, and ultimately from Latin processus, from procedere (to advance). While the two senses share the idea of moving something forward, they apply to markedly different domains—law and information processing—and can be distinguished by their objects and context.