allungare

Forms

allungare (first-person singular present allùngo, first-person singular past historic allungài, past participle allungàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian a- + lungo + -are, a parasynthetic verb whose prefix reinforces the sense.^[2][3][4][5] DEI, Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli derive it instead from Vulgar Latin *allongāre, recorded in Medieval Latin, formed with ad- on Latin longus (“long”) and standing for ēlongō;^[6][7][8][1] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[6][7][8][1]

The same formation is French allonger.^[9][1] Körting also puts Romanian alunga here, with the sense “to send far away”.^[10] longus goes back to Proto-Italic *(d)longos and Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos, and is related to Old High German lang and the English word long.^[1][11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document from Montieri in the Sienese territory, the Breve di Montieri of 1219, where the verb means to make something longer.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb also meant to lengthen in time, to prolong, and to keep at a distance or move away; in time it could mean to put off or defer.^[5] Dante (before 1321) uses it intransitively, “to grow longer”, and also for moving away: Poco allungati c'eravam di lici (“we had moved a little way from there”).^[2][13] Petrarch fled per allungar la vita, “to lengthen his life”.^[14]

Lorenzo Lippi (before 1665) uses allungarsi for stretching out or lying down, and Filippo Baldinucci (1681) the sense “to dilute”, as of wine with water.^[2] The colloquial sense “to hand over, pass” is recorded in the fifth Crusca dictionary (1863).^[2] In sport it now means to put on a spurt, to make an allungo.^[15][3]

Timeline

• 1219 – the Breve di Montieri has the first record.^[2][5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni has allungamento.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it intransitively, “to grow longer”.^[2]
• Before 1665 – Lorenzo Lippi has the reflexive “to stretch out, lie down”.^[2]
• 1681 – Filippo Baldinucci uses it for diluting a liquid.^[2]
• 1863 – the Crusca dictionary records it for handing something to someone.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lengthen, to make longer: allungare una gonna di due dita.^[3][16][17]
2. To stretch out the limbs: allungare le gambe sotto il tavolo;^[3][16][17] allungare il collo, to crane one's neck.^[3][16][17]
3. To prolong, make last longer: allungare una vacanza.^[3][7]
4. (linguistics) To lengthen a vowel or sound.^[3][7]
5. To dilute, to water down: allungare il caffè con un po' d'acqua.^[3][7][1]
6. (colloquial) To pass or hand something within reach: mi allunghi l'olio?.^[3][17][1]
7. (colloquial) To land a blow: gli allungò un calcio.^[3][17]
8. (intransitive, sport) To pull ahead, put on a spurt in cycling or running.^[3][17]
9. (pronominal, allungarsi) To grow longer or taller; to stretch out, lie down: si allungò sul divano.^[17][7][13]

Word family

• allungamento
• allungabile
• allungatura
• allungo
• allunga
• riallungare
• rallungare
• allungatore

Related words

• lungo
• lunghezza
• French allonger
• Latin longus

Usage notes

Set phrases include allungare il passo, to walk faster, allungare le mani, to reach out to steal, strike or touch someone, and allungare il brodo, to pad something out.^[3][16][17] In Old Italian the form allongare is common.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 137
7. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
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. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 340
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
16. ^ 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
17. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli