accogliere

Forms

accogliere (first-person singular present accòlgo, first-person singular past historic accòlsi, past participle accòlto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *accolligere (“to gather, receive”), formed from ad- and colligere (“to gather”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The LEI notes that the compound was already formed in Latin times.^[5] DELI analyses the verb as cogliere with the strengthening prefix a-, but grants that the Romance parallels justify reconstructing the Latin compound.^[6] GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti also derive it from the Italian verb.^[7][8]

The same verb is French accueillir, Catalan acullir, Spanish acoger, Portuguese acolher and Friulian acòlzi, and it is found across Romance except in Romanian.^[5][9][10] The sense “cordial, welcoming” of accogliente is a calque of French accueillant.^[6][5]

The Latin base is formed from com- and legō (“to gather, collect”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect”).^[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Proverbia que dicuntur, a Venetian text of the last quarter of the 12th century, and Nocentini dates the verb to the end of that century.^[13][2] DELI and the LEI cite Giacomo da Lentini (before 1250) for the sense “to receive someone, with a given attitude”.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb still kept much of the sense of its Latin base: “to gather, put together” (money in Matteo Villani), “to contain, hold” (the Novellino, end of the 13th century), “to pick” flowers or fruit, and even “to take by surprise, attack”.^[13][5][14] Used reflexively it meant to gather or draw close, as in Dante's Lo buon maestro a me tutto s'accolse “my good master drew close to me”.^[3][12] Dante also has the short form acco'lo “welcome him”.^[15] The literary infinitive accorre is a contraction.^[4][14]

The northern dialects have Lombard acoie (Bonvesin, 1315) and Venetian acolger, and the south Sicilian accògghiri.^[5] Abruzzese rakǭyyə “to bring the cows home” may be an Angevin loan from Old French acoillir “to drive animals before one”.^[5] Derivatives include accoglienza and accoglimento (both 13th century) and accogliente (1753), which took the sense “welcoming” from French in the 20th century.^[6] In the language of the courts accogliere is to grant a request or appeal.^[7][3]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Proverbia que dicuntur use the verb.^[13][2]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini writes acogliere.^[6][5]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses accogliere, also for “to contain, gather”.^[6]
• End of the 13th century – Accoglienza is recorded.^[6]
• Before 1294 – Accoglimento is recorded in Brunetto Latini.^[6]
• 1315 – Lombard acoie in Bonvesin de la Riva.^[5]
• 1753 – Accogliente is first recorded.^[6]
• 1923–1939 – Ugo Ojetti uses accogliente for “cordial”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To welcome, receive (a person), often in a stated manner: I vicini ci accolsero con una torta e due chiacchiere.^{[7][8][12][3]}
2. To take in, give hospitality or shelter to; to admit into a group: Il convento accoglie i pellegrini di passaggio.^[7][4][8]
3. To receive (news, an idea) in a given way: Ha accolto la notizia senza battere ciglio.^[7][12][3]
4. To accept, approve, grant (a request, proposal or appeal): Il tribunale ha accolto il ricorso.^{[7][4][8][12]}
5. Of a place, to hold, accommodate: La nuova aula può accogliere duecento studenti.^[7][4][12]
6. (literary) To gather, bring together.^[4][8][12]
7. (literary) To understand, grasp.^[7]
8. (nautical) To furl (sails).^[7]

Word family

• accoglienza
• accoglimento
• accogliente
• accolta
• riaccogliere
• accogliticcio

Related words

• cogliere
• raccogliere
• French accueillir
• Spanish acoger

Usage notes

It is conjugated like cogliere (accolgo, accolsi, accolto).^[4][8][1] The reflexive accogliersi “to gather; to draw close” is literary.^[12][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 294
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 29
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca