Etymologically
Log in

abbandonare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 03:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ab.ban.doˈna.re/[1]

Forms

abbandonare (first-person singular present abbandóno, first-person singular past historic abbandonài, past participle abbandonàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old Italian abandonare;[2][3][1] Venetian abandonar, Genoese abandonà.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French abandoner (about 1080), formed on the phrase “a bandon” “in someone's power, at their mercy”, from bandon (“power, authority”).[4][5][6][1] DELI and Sabatini–Coletti start from “être à bandon” “to be in someone's power”, and the GDLI derives “bandon” from a Frankish “*band”, a form parallel to “*ban”.[4][7][5] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli, GRADIT and DEI read the French verb instead as “a ban donner” “to hand over to the power of”, “to leave free for anyone's use”, and DEI compares Medieval Latin “in bannum ponere”.[8][9][10][11]

The noun at the root is Frankish *ban (“proclamation, jurisdiction”), a legal word that the LEI traces from “solemn word” to “edict” and “order of an authority”; it spread through the Franks into the Latin of the Merovingian period as Medieval Latin bannus, and is also the source of bando and banale.[3][8][7] Old Tuscan “abbandonarsi” “to venture” and “to collapse” has the senses of Old French s'abandoner.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, of the last quarter of the 12th century, and personal names such as Abandonati are found in Tuscan documents from 1145.[2][9] The first sense is “to leave in the power of oneself or others, to leave defenceless”;[2][4][10] DELI finds it in Uguccione da Lodi early in the 13th century, the form abandonare “to leave for ever” in Brunetto Latini about 1260, and abbandonare in Dante in 1292.[2][4][10]

Semantic evolution

Dante has the verb several times: Francesca says that love seized her so strongly “che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona” (“that, as you see, it still does not leave me”), and in the Vita Nuova life itself almost abandons the poet.[5] The TLIO groups the Old Italian senses under three ideas: the loss of control or care (to let fall, to leave land untilled, of strength or life to fail someone), separation (to leave a place or a person), and ceasing to do something.[2] The physical sense “to let go, to let drop” is in the Ottimo commento before 1334 and, in the form abbandonare, in Ariosto in 1516.[4]

The reflexive abbandonarsi “to let oneself go” is recorded before 1313, and “to lose heart” in Guittone, before 1294.[4] Modern sport added the sense “to retire from a race or a match”.[10][7] Abbandono “final parting” is in Brunetto Latini, and abbandonato was used from 1550 for a foundling.[4]

Timeline

  • About 1080 – Old French abandoner is recorded.[4]
  • 1145 – Names such as Abandonati appear in Tuscan documents.[2]
  • Late 12th century – The verb appears in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.[2]
  • 1211–1213 – GRADIT dates the word to these years.[10]
  • 1268 – Abbandonato “left” is recorded.[4]
  • 1292 – Dante writes abbandonare.[4]
  • 1516 – Ariosto uses it for letting something drop.[4]
  • 1550 – Vasari uses abbandonato for a foundling.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To leave a place or a person for good, to abandon; of strength, hope or courage: to fail someone: Hanno abbandonato il paese dopo la guerra.[10][9][7]
  2. To leave someone without help or protection; to neglect, leave untended: abbandonare qualcuno al suo destino.[10][9][7]
  3. To give up, stop doing (a study, a plan, a habit); (sport, intransitive) to retire from a race or a match: Il pilota ha abbandonato al decimo giro.[10][9][7]
  4. To let go, loosen (a grip, the reins); to let a part of the body drop or rest: Abbandonò la testa sul cuscino.[10][9][12]
  5. (reflexive) Abbandonarsi: to let oneself go; to give way (to feelings, memories); to put oneself trustingly in someone's hands, (rare) to lose heart.[12][7][13]

Word family

  • abbandono
  • abbandonato
  • abbandonamento
  • abbandonatore
  • riabbandonare

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 173
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 11
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4
  12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli