Abstract

The adjective "banausico" in Italian is considered to be the result of a lexical invention of Benedetto Croce, who would have taken it from the "baunasich" of many 19th-century German philosophers. In fact, there is an isolated 16th-century attestation of the term; it was later used in a book by Raffaele Mariano that Croce knew well. Croce's influence was nevertheless decisive in determining the success of the adjective.