Etymologically
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accompagnare

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Pronunciation

  • /ak.kom.paɲˈɲa.re/[1]

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

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