Fiducia — “trust” — was crowned 2025’s Word of the Year by the Treccani Insititute, one of the country’s foremost publishers of dictionaries and encyclopedias. Derived from the Latin fides (faith) or fidelitas (fidelity or faithfulness), fiducia is defined by Treccani as “the attitude of calm security that arises from a positive evaluation of a person or a group of people, toward others or toward oneself.”
Treccani representatives are aware that fiducia could seem like a countercultural choice. A statement on the institute’s website reads, “In a year marked by geopolitical and social uncertainty, fiducia emerges as an essential response to the widespread need to look to the future with positive expectations. This desire is grounded in the strength of human relationships: developing solid, reliable and lasting bonds not only between individuals, but also between citizens and institutions.”
But the meaning of fiducia was only one factor in the choice. According to Treccani, fiducia was also among the most searched words of the year on treccani.it, particularly among younger Italians, who find themselves faced with a world ravaged by war, genocide and economic uncertainty. Another Treccani statement called fiducia “a fragile yet necessary word today, especially among young people who feel the need to reconnect and believe in someone or something without fear of disappointment.”
What’s in a Treccani word?
Founded in 1925 by Giovanni Treccani and Giovanni Gentile, the Treccani Institute has worked for a century to shape Italy’s modern lexicon, track emerging vocabulary and chronicle everyday vernacular. The institute’s “Word of the Year” campaign is part of the #leparolevalgono (“Words Matter”) project, which promotes and encourages mindful, conscious use of the Italian language.
As linguists like to point out, Italian is a colorful tapestry of languages woven from ancient and modern strands. Anything but monolithic, it’s spun with threads rooted primarily in Latin and Greek, layered with Gothic, Lombard and Frankish influences, and tinged with Arabisms and Hellenisms added in the Middle Ages. Before the Renaissance, people across the peninsula spoke in dozens of dialects; however, the Florentine influences of such literary giants as Dante Alighieri, Petrarch and Boccaccio helped form the basis of the standard Italian language we know today, which gained traction after the 1861 unification of Italy and surged after World War II.
