Etymologically
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attraversare

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Pronunciation

  • /at.tra.verˈsa.re/[1]

Forms

attraversare (first-person singular present attravèrso, first-person singular past historic attraversài, past participle attraversàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from attraverso (“across”) with the verb ending -are, according to DELI, GRADIT and Wiktionary;[2][3][1][4][5][6] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Devoto's Avviamento derive it from traversare with the prefix a(d)-.[2][3][1][4][5][6] The TLIO derives it directly from traverso, which continues Latin trānsversus (“lying across”), the past participle of trānsvertō (“to turn across”).[7][2][4] The adverb comes from the phrase a traverso.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine poet Monte Andrea, in the late 13th century, and Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the verb to the second half of that century.[7][4][5] DELI's first date is Dante (before 1321), in the sense “to pass across”; in the Inferno a lizard darting across the road looks like a flash of lightning: folgore par se la via attraversa.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the verb for putting something crosswise and, from that, for hindering: Dante has it for “to place across” and Boccaccio and Petrarch for “to thwart”.[2][7] Attraversare la strada a qualcuno still means both to cut across someone's path and to obstruct them.[9][10] Franco Sacchetti records the superstition that a weasel crossing one's path means a bad journey.[8]

The figurative sense “to go through, live through” (a danger, a difficult period) was a 19th-century novelty: Rigutini's dictionary of neologisms remarked on it in 1886, and Fogazzaro uses it.[2] In nautical use the verb means to cross another ship's course close by.[3][9]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – Monte Andrea has the first record.[7][4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses attraversare for “to pass across” and “to place across”.[2]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for “to thwart”.[2]
  • Before 1555 – The noun attraversamento is recorded.[2]
  • 1886 – Rigutini notes the new sense “to live through”.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cross, to go from one side to the other of; to travel through from end to end: Abbiamo attraversato il lago in barca.[3][5][11][1]
  2. (absolute) To cross the street: Aspetta il verde prima di attraversare.[3][11]
  3. Of a river, road or the like, to run through: La ferrovia attraversa tutta la valle.[5][11]
  4. To pass right through, to pierce: La lama gli attraversò la mano.[3][5]
  5. Of a thought, to cross one's mind: Un dubbio mi attraversò la mente.[3][5][11]
  6. To go through, live through (a period or situation): Il paese attraversa una crisi profonda.[3][5][11]
  7. (literary) To hinder, thwart: attraversare i piani di qualcuno.[3][9][10]
  8. (uncommon) To put crosswise.[3][5][10]
  9. (nautical) To cross another vessel's course at a short distance.[3][11][9]

Word family

  • attraversamento
  • attraversabile
  • attraversatore
  • riattraversare

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 48
  7. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse