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accendere

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word accendere

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur
Inherited from
Latin accendo
Ultimate origin
Latin candeō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin accendo
Italian accendere
From the same root
Latin accensus ← accendo

Pronunciation

  • /atˈt͡ʃɛn.de.re/[1]

Forms

accendere (first-person singular present accèndo, first-person singular past historic accési, past participle accéso, auxiliary avére)[1] Pisan accègnere takes its ending from spegnere, the verb of the opposite meaning.[2] Old past forms include accènso and accìso.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin accendō (“to set on fire, to kindle”), from ad- and the stem of candeō (“to shine, to glow”).[4][5][6][7][1] The Latin verb survives in Old Occitan acendre, Old Spanish acender and Portuguese acender, as well as in Italian.[8][5] The learned accensione continues the late Latin derivative Late Latin accēnsiō.[4]

In the dialects the verb is mainly Tuscan and Ligurian north of a line from Ancona to the Colli Albani; south of it the usual verb is of the type appicciare, and in Romagna and Emilia the Tuscan form has spread among other verbs.[8] In Calabria the infinitive used as a noun means “match”.[8][2]

That Latin verb is from Proto-Italic *kandē- (“to shine”); de Vaan connects it with Welsh cann (“brilliant”) and Sanskrit चन्द्र (candrá, “shining”), but its vowel is unexpected for a root Proto-Indo-European *knd-.[9] candela belongs to the same root.[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur (last quarter of the 12th century);[10][5] GRADIT dates the verb to 1284.[6] The figurative sense “to stir up, to excite” is in Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), and Dante has accendere un fuoco (before 1321).[4][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb covered burning, heating, lighting up and shining, and figuratively kindling love, anger or religious fervour.[10] Boccaccio has a man who never failed to light a candle before the image of a saint.[11]

In bookkeeping accendere un conto “to open an account” is recorded in 1433;[4] DELI and the GDLI explain it from the participle acceso, which coincided with accensus, the participle of Latin accēnseō (“to add to the census register”).[4][11] The sense “to switch on an electrical device” is recorded in 1942.[4] Instruments for lighting were named with imperative compounds: accendisigaro (1923) and accendigas (1961), and accendino “lighter” (1924).[4][5]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use the verb.[10]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it figuratively.[4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante writes accendere un fuoco.[4][8]
  • 1433 – Accendere is used for opening an account.[4]
  • 1923 – Accendisigaro is recorded.[4]
  • 1924 – Grazia Deledda uses accendino.[4]
  • 1942 – The sense “to switch on” is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To light, to set fire to: Accese il camino e si sedette.[6][12][13]
  2. To switch on, to turn on a device: Accendi la luce, non vedo niente.[6][12][13]
  3. (figurative) To kindle, to rouse feelings: La musica gli accendeva la fantasia.[6][12][3]
  4. (figurative) To provoke, to start a quarrel or debate.[6][13]
  5. (figurative) To light up, to make glow: La gioia le accendeva gli occhi.[6][13]
  6. (law, banking) To take out a loan or mortgage; to open an account.[6][12][3]
  7. accendersi: to catch fire; of a device, to come on; to blush; to flare up.[12][13][3]

Word family

  • acceso
  • accensione
  • accendino
  • accendisigaro
  • accendigas
  • accenditore
  • riaccendere

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 23
  3. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 254
  9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Accendere.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/accendere. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·