Etymologically
Log in

aspettare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 18:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /as.petˈta.re/[1]

Forms

aspettare (first-person singular present aspètto, first-person singular past historic aspettài, past participle aspettàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms are espettare and spettare.[2][3] Lapo Mazzei, about 1400, has astettare.[3] The southern dialects have forms such as Sicilian astittari.[4][5]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Latin exspectāre (“to wait for, expect”), from spectō (“to look at”), with a change of prefix.[6][7][8] Nocentini, Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli start from a popular form Vulgar Latin *aspectāre, with ad- in place of ex-;[9][10][11] Treccani and Devoto speak of a crossing with aspectāre (“to look at attentively”).[12][13][14] The LEI finds no need for a reconstructed form: pretonic ⟨e-⟩ often became ⟨a-⟩ in Italian, and forms in ⟨es-⟩ are sporadically attested.[15]

The LEI notes that the Romance languages expressed “waiting” differently: Spanish and Portuguese with continuants of spērō, French and Occitan with those of attendō, while Italian and Romanian kept the Latin verb: Romanian aștepta, Sardinian isettare and Friulian setâ.[15] Meyer-Lübke traced Romanian, Sardinian, Friulian and southern Italian forms to Vulgar Latin *astectāre, with assimilation of the consonants;[5][4] Occitan aspeitar means “to look”.[9][5]

spectō is the frequentative of Latin speciō (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”), the root of Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai) and Old High German spehōn (“to spy”).[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio, from the Marche, in the second half of the 12th century,[17] where the verb means to wait for a person or event, with anxiety, fear, hope or desire.[17] DELI dates it to the beginning of the 14th century, in Giacomino Pugliese, and GRADIT to the second half of the 13th century.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the verb for delaying an action, for what lies in store (non sa cosa lo aspetta), and, with an abstract subject, for consequences.[17] A separate use, “to belong, be due to”, goes back to spectō in its figurative sense and survives in GRADIT as an old meaning, close to spettare.[2][7]

Derivatives followed: aspetto “waiting”, before 1363 in Matteo Villani, now mostly in sala d'aspetto (1865); aspettativa, “expectation” (1565, Doni), “right to an office” (1590), and “leave from work” (1908); and inaspettato (1525).[6][9] The colloquial aspettare “to be pregnant” comes from aspettare un bambino.[7][8]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 12th century – The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio uses the verb.[17]
  • Before 1363 – Aspetto “waiting” in Matteo Villani.[6]
  • About 1400 – Astettare in Lapo Mazzei.[3]
  • 1525 – Inaspettato is recorded.[9]
  • 1565 – Aspettativa “expectation” in Anton Francesco Doni.[6]
  • 1865 – Sala d'aspetto in Tommaseo–Bellini.[6]
  • 1908 – Aspettativa “leave of absence” in Panzini.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wait for, await a person or event: aspetto il pullman da mezz'ora, aspettiamo che smetta di nevicare.[7][8][10]
  2. (colloquial) Used alone or in aspettare un bambino, to be expecting a baby.[7][8]
  3. To look forward to, hope for: è da mesi che aspetto le vacanze.[7][8]
  4. To put off an action until something happens: aspetta a rispondere.[7][12]
  5. Of things, to lie in store for someone: vi aspetta una lunga salita.[10][11]
  6. aspettarsi: to expect, foresee: non mi aspettavo tanta gente.[10][12][18]
  7. (obsolete) To be due to, belong to.[7][2]

Word family

  • aspettativa
  • aspetto
  • inaspettato
  • aspettazione
  • spettare
  • attendere
  • Latin exspectō
  • Romanian aștepta

Usage notes

Phrases include farsi aspettare (to be late), aspettare al varco (to lie in wait for someone at a testing moment), aspettare la manna dal cielo (to wait for things to sort themselves out) and the proverb chi la fa l'aspetti (as you sow, so shall you reap).[7][8][12]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 77
  4. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 324
  5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 44
  14. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  15. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 22, 605
  16. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  17. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  18. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli