accompagnare

Forms

accompagnare (first-person singular present accompàgno, first-person singular past historic accompagnài, past participle accompagnàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian a- + compagno (“companion”) + -are, a verb formed on the noun with a prefix and a verb ending at the same time.^[2][3][4][1] DEI, GRADIT and GDLI compare French accompagner, recorded from the 12th century.^[5][4][6]

Compagno goes back to Late Latin companio (“companion”), which the LEI takes, with companium (“company”), from the Salic law of the 6th century, the only place both are recorded.^[7] The older view saw in them a calque of a Gothic word for the soldiers who shared their bread in the Germanic armies; the LEI follows Bork in rejecting it and in deriving the words from Late Latin com- and pānis (“bread”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, in the dialect of Cremona, at the beginning of the 13th century.^[8][3] DELI's first dates are from Dante's Vita nuova (1293–1294), in the senses “to go with someone to keep them company, honour or protect them” and “to put together, join”.^[2] The reflexive “to join someone on the way” is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb also meant to give someone as a companion, to marry, and of rivers to flow together.^[8] Dante has Rome call on the emperor: Cesare mio, perché non m'accompagne? (“My Caesar, why do you not stay with me?”).^[6] Following the dead to church or to the grave was accompagnare i morti.^[6]

The musical sense, playing or singing in support of another voice, dates from Agnolo Firenzuola (1518–1525), and accompagnamento for the secondary parts of a piece from 1635.^[2] In the 18th century grammarians made compounds such as accompagnanome for the indefinite article and accompagnaverbo for the adverb.^[5] In sport the verb is used in boxing for following through or riding a punch, and in football for steering the ball into the net from close range.^[9][10] Modern Greek borrowed the verb.^[1]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the verb.^[8]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses accompagnamento.^[2]
• 1293–1294 – Dante uses accompagnare in the Vita nuova.^[2]
• Before 1406 – Francesco da Buti uses accompagnatore.^[2]
• 1518–1525 – Agnolo Firenzuola uses the verb in music.^[2]
• 1635 – Giovanni Battista Doni uses accompagnamento in music.^[2]
• 1772 – Accompagnatore “accompanist” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To accompany, go with someone to keep them company, protect them or show courtesy: Stasera ti accompagno io alla stazione.^{[4][9][11][1]}
2. To escort.^[4][10] Accompagnare un defunto is to follow the coffin at a funeral.^[4][9][10]
3. (figurative) To follow with the eyes or the thoughts.^[4][9] Accompagnare la porta is to guide a door with the hand so that it does not slam.^[4][9][12]
4. To combine, match: Ha accompagnato i fiori con un biglietto.^[4][11][10]
5. (music) To play an accompaniment for a singer or another instrument.^[4][9][11]
6. (sport) In boxing, to follow through a punch, or to ride an opponent's punch by moving back.^[9][10]
7. (pronominal, accompagnarsi) To join someone, go along with them.^[10][12] Of things, to go well together: Questo vino si accompagna bene al pesce.^[10][12][13]

Word family

• accompagnamento
• accompagnatore
• accompagnatorio
• accompagnato
• riaccompagnare
• raccompagnare

Related words

• compagno
• compagnia
• French accompagner

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 187
8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli