Etymologically
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accorto

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Pronunciation

  • /akˈkɔr.to/[1]

Forms

accorto (feminine accorta, masculine plural accorti, feminine plural accorte, superlative accortissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of accorgersi “to notice”, inherited from Vulgar Latin *accorrigere, made from Latin corrigō (“to straighten, correct”) with the prefix ad-.[2][3][4][1] DELI and DEI explain the change of meaning as “to correct oneself, correct a false impression after a calmer view of the matter”, and Nocentini adds that the sense “to gain exact knowledge” is plain in the adjective and in accortezza.[2][3] The LEI instead starts from “to escort, watch over” and so “to pay attention to something”, a development parallel to scorgere and scortare from Vulgar Latin *excorrigō.[5]

The participle is formed like porto beside porgere, and Devoto compares Latin sortus beside surgō, already found in Livius Andronicus.[2][6] corrigō is a compound of regō (“to direct”).[1] Dialect forms include Venetian acorto and Piedmontese acôrt, and the Sicilian form is accortu.[5] French accort and its family are borrowings from Italian.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Bonagiunta Orbicciani of Lucca, in the middle of the 13th century (DELI: before 1257), who praises a lady as la meglio accorta, the most discerning of all.[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used accorto for a wise, skilled person, and also for “informed, aware” and “quick, ready”; the TLIO also records it of a well-chosen place and of harmonious speech.[8] Dante calls Virgil persona accorta at the gate of Hell.[9][10] The senses “informed” and “quick” are now obsolete;[11][4] Zingarelli quotes Poliziano for the second.[11][4]

Modern Italian keeps the sense of shrewd prudence, of people and of their actions and words.[12][13][14] French borrowed accort in the middle of the 14th century for “skilful”, and later used it for “graceful, attractive”.[7]

Timeline

  • Before 1257 – Bonagiunta Orbicciani uses accorto “discerning”.[2]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni has accorgimento “perception”.[2]
  • 1293–1294 – Dante uses accorgersi “to perceive”.[2]
  • Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio has accortezza “shrewdness”.[2]
  • Mid-14th century – French accort “skilful” is recorded.[7]
  • 1609 – French accorte “graceful” is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. shrewd, prudent, combining caution with cleverness: È un commerciante accorto, non si fa ingannare facilmente.[4][12][13]
  2. Of actions or words, showing good judgement: una scelta accorta.[12][13][14]
  3. (obsolete) Informed, aware.[4][13][11]
  4. (obsolete) Quick, ready.[4][13][11]

Word family

  • accortezza
  • accortamente
  • malaccorto

Usage notes

Stare accorto is “to be careful, watch out”, and fare accorto qualcuno “to warn someone”.[12][11][15] The opposite is malaccorto.[11][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 321
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  8. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c d 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
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli