apparecchiare

Forms

apparecchiare (first-person singular present apparécchio, first-person singular past historic apparecchiài, past participle apparecchiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *appariculāre, formed on Latin apparō (“to prepare”),^{[2][3][4][5][1]} which is ad- + parō (“to prepare, provide”).^[3][6] Devoto–Oli describes the base as a frequentative of the verb for “to prepare”.^[7] DEI and Körting instead derive it from a diminutive *pariculus of pār (“equal”), “to bring like things together”, and Wiktionary weighs both explanations.^[8][9][1]

The Vulgar Latin verb is western Romance: Old French apareillier (about 1080, in the Song of Roland), French appareiller, Old Occitan apareillar, Catalan aparellar, Spanish aparejar and Portuguese aparelhar.^[10][3][5] Back-formations without the prefix are Friulian pareciâ, parelhar and Italian parecchiare.^[10] The French verb was borrowed as apparigliare.^[5][9]

De Vaan explains the Latin verb for “to prepare” as a verb formed on a noun meaning “providing”, from Proto-Indo-European *prh₃-o-, with cognates meaning “to give, grant” in Sanskrit and Greek.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma (1252–1258), where ships are made ready.^[12][13] DELI dates the sense “to prepare” from Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb covered preparing in every sense: making ready, holding in readiness, of God's designs “to destine”, arming ships and armies, preparing a meal, celebrating a service, laying a table, adorning and dressing, and spreading cloths or sails.^[12] In Dante's Paradiso Cacciaguida sees il tempo che ti s'apparecchia (“the time that is being prepared for you”).^[14]

The sense of laying the table, absolutely or with la tavola, became the everyday one, and textile and paper finishing gave a technical sense.^[4][7][6] Treccani quotes the proverb le disgrazie sono sempre apparecchiate come le tavole dell'osteria (“misfortunes are always ready, like the tables of an inn”).^[15]

The noun apparecchio “preparation” is recorded from the 13th–14th centuries; its senses “device” (1811) and “aeroplane” (1910, D'Annunzio) are a calque of French appareil.^[2] Apparecchiatura, a set of technical equipment, is recorded in 1931.^[2]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma has the first record.^[12]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “to prepare”.^[2]
• 14th century – Sparecchiare “to clear the table” appears.^[3]
• 1811 – Apparecchio is used for a device or machine.^[2]
• 1910 – D'Annunzio uses apparecchio for an aeroplane.^[2]
• 1931 – Apparecchiatura “technical equipment” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To prepare, make ready, arrange: apparecchiare il letto per l'ospite.^{[4][7][16][17][18][1]}
2. To lay or set the table for a meal; also used absolutely: apparecchiamo sul balcone.^{[4][7][6][16][17][1]}
3. (textiles, papermaking) To finish cloth or paper by a process of dressing.^{[4][7][6][16][1]}
4. (literary, reflexive apparecchiarsi) To get ready, prepare oneself for something or to do it.^{[16][17][7][6]}

Word family

• apparecchio
• apparecchiatura
• sparecchiare
• apparecchiatore
• apparecchiamento
• riapparecchiare

Related words

• apparare
• parecchio
• apparigliare
• French appareiller

Usage notes

DEI and the TLIO record a separate Old Italian verb apparecchiare “to make equal”, from the 13th and 14th centuries: DEI takes it as an adaptation of the Occitan verb, the TLIO derives it from pari.^[19][12][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 250
9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 191
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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
19. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 251
20. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET