abbassare

Forms

abbassare (first-person singular present abbàsso, first-person singular past historic abbassài, past participle abbassàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The old spelling is abassare; the TLIO lists many northern forms such as abasar and abassar.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *adbassiāre, a derivative of Latin bassus (“low”), according to DELI, which follows the LEI.^[4][1] Nocentini, Devoto, GRADIT and the TLIO treat it instead as formed in Italian from basso, with the prefix a- and the verb ending -are.^{[5][6][7][3][1]} DEI derives it from the simple verb bassare and argues that the compound cannot be an old formation, because the simple verb is only found in Medieval Latin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin records come first: a charter of 1192 orders mills to be lowered by half an arm's length (abbassentur medietate unius brachii), and at Modena in the 13th century abassare means “to dig out”.^[9][4] The TLIO's first Italian record is the Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, in the dialect of Cremona, at the beginning of the 13th century, in the sense “to lower, bring down”.^[3][5] The reflexive “to humble oneself” is in the Tuscan translation of Brunetto Latini's Tresor at the end of the 13th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had the main modern senses: lowering a thing, reducing something in strength or value, softening a sound, and humbling a person or their pride.^[3] Knights in the romances lower their lances for the charge: Abbassano loro lance e traggonsi a ferire (“They lower their lances and ride to strike”), in the Tavola Ritonda.^[10] The noun abbassamento is in Brunetto Latini (1260–1261).^[4]

In geometry one “lowers” a perpendicular (1797), and in offices of the early 19th century a superior “lowered” an order to a subordinate (1812).^[4] Alessandro Tassoni used the verb in the 17th century for “to dismount”, a sense taken from Spanish abajar.^[4] Abbassalingua, the doctor's tongue depressor (1935), is probably modelled on French abaisse-langue.^[4] Modern uses include turning down the volume or the light, lowering prices, and in sport improving a record by lowering the time.^[7][11][2]

Timeline

• 1192 – A Medieval Latin charter uses abbassentur of lowering mills.^[9]
• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the verb.^[3]
• 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses abbassamento.^[4]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses abbassare for “to bring lower”.^[4]
• 1797 – The geometrical sense “to drop a perpendicular” is recorded.^[4]
• 1935 – Abbassalingua “tongue depressor” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lower, bring down: Abbassa la tapparella, c'è troppo sole.^{[7][11][12][1]}
2. To bend down, turn downward (the head, the eyes): Il bambino abbassò lo sguardo, imbarazzato.^[7][11][12]
3. To make lower in height: abbassare la siepe di mezzo metro.^[7][11][13]
4. To reduce, decrease (prices, pressure, temperature).^[7][11][12]
5. To turn down (the voice, the volume, a light): Puoi abbassare la musica? Sto studiando.^{[7][11][12][1]}
6. (figurative) To humble, to humiliate.^[7][11][13]
7. (sport) To improve a record by lowering the time.^[7][11][2]
8. (mathematics) To drop (a perpendicular). In long division, to bring down the next digit of the dividend.^[7][2]
9. (reflexive, abbassarsi) To stoop, bend down.^[11][12] Figuratively, to lower oneself: Non mi abbasserò a rispondergli.^[11][12][13]
10. (intransitive pronominal, abbassarsi) To go down, sink, decrease: la febbre si è abbassata.^[12][13][2]

Word family

• abbassamento
• abbassalingua
• abbassabile
• abbassata
• riabbassare

Related words

• basso
• bassare
• Latin bassus

Usage notes

Common figurative phrases are abbassare la guardia “to let one's guard down”, abbassare la cresta “to stop being arrogant” and abbassare la testa “to submit”.^[7][13][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
3. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli