asciolvere

Forms

asciolvere (first-person singular present asciòlvo, first-person singular past historic asciolvéi or asciolvétti or (traditional) asciolvètti or asciòlsi, past participle asciòlto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin absolvō (“to loosen, release”), the popular outcome of the word in the phrase absolvere iēiūnia, “to break the fast”.^[2][3][4][1] The LEI finds this use in the Peregrinatio Aetheriae.^[5] DEI and GDLI think the word reached Italian through the language of the Church.^[6][7] The same image is behind French déjeuner, from Vulgar Latin *disiēiūnō, and English breakfast.^[5][6] The learned form of the same verb is assolvere.^[2][8]

The /ʃ/ of the Italian word comes from the influence of sciogliere, according to the LEI and DEI.^[5][6] GDLI and Sabatini–Coletti point instead to Latin exsolvō (“to loosen”).^[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Prato document of 1296–1305, where the verb means to have breakfast or to give someone breakfast.^[10] The noun, “breakfast, light meal”, is first found before 1370 in the chronicle of Donato Velluti: asciolvea; e l'asciolvere suo non era manco di due pani, “he breakfasted, and his breakfast was no less than two loaves”.^[3][11]

Semantic evolution

Franco Sacchetti writes asciolverono molto bene la domenica mattina, “they breakfasted very well on Sunday morning”.^[12][11] Burchiello used it transitively of beasts, asciolvon menta, “they breakfast on mint”.^[11][12]

The LEI follows the verb from Velluti to the end of the 17th century and in a few later writers.^[5] In 1861 Tommaseo noted that it still lived in the dialect of Modena, and the LEI lists dialect forms such as Bormio sciolver “to dine” and Umbrian asciolvé.^[11][5] In 1905 Panzini praised asciolvere as the exact match of French déjeuner but noted that few people still used it.^[3] Modern dictionaries mark the verb as archaic and the noun as literary.^[4][13]

Timeline

• 1296–1305 – The verb is recorded in a Prato document.^[10]
• Before 1370 – Donato Velluti uses the noun asciolvere “breakfast”.^[3][11]
• 1694 – Baldovini still uses the verb.^[5]
• 1861 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the verb as alive in the dialect of Modena.^[11]
• 1905 – Panzini notes that the word is falling out of use.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (archaic, intransitive) To have breakfast, to break the fast.^{[4][13][12][1]}
2. (archaic, transitive) To eat, especially for breakfast.^[4][13][1]

Noun

1. (literary) Breakfast, a snack or light meal.^{[4][13][12][1]}

Related words

• assolvere
• sciogliere
• Latin absolvō
• French déjeuner

Usage notes

An older variant is sciolvere.^[14][15] Devoto–Oli says the verb lacks the past participle and the compound tenses, while Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani and Wiktionary give the participle asciolto.^{[13][9][12][1]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
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 d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 179
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 317
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 723
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d e f Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli