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avvicinare

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word avvicinare

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
13th century, northern anonymous poems
Ultimate origin
Latin vīcus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vicus
Latin vicinus
Italian vicino
Italian avvicinare
Derived words
Latin vicinia ← vicinus
Latin vicinitas ← vicinus

Pronunciation

  • /av.vi.t͡ʃiˈna.re/[1]

Forms

avvicinare (first-person singular present avvicìno, first-person singular past historic avvicinài, past participle avvicinàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is a parasynthetic verb, formed from Italian a- + vicino (“near”) + -are with the prefix strengthening the sense.[2][3][4][1] DEI sets it in a Western Romance group with French avoisiner, Spanish avecinar and Portuguese avezinhar, which may go back to Vulgar Latin *advīcīnāre; the GDLI takes the same view.[5][6]

Vicino continues Latin vīcīnus (“neighbouring”), from vīcus (“village, street, quarter”) and the suffix -īnus.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in anonymous northern poems of the 13th century, for coming nearer to something in space.[7] GRADIT and DEI date the verb to Dante (1313–1319), and DELI gives Dante (before 1321) for “to be near” and Petrarch (before 1374) for the reflexive “to draw near”.[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used it of time drawing near, of gathering in a group, of armies closing for battle, and figuratively of moral and spiritual progress towards God or virtue, or of one thing coming close to another in quality.[7] The transitive sense “to put one thing nearer another” is recorded in Torquato Tasso in 1573, and “to approach a person in order to speak to them” in the Milanese press in 1815.[2]

Today the verb also means to bring people closer to each other or to a cause, as when an illness brings someone to faith.[4][8] In Mafia slang avvicinare a magistrate or policeman is to intimidate them into looking the other way.[9] The noun avvicinamento goes back to Galileo (1637).[2]

Timeline

  • 13th century – Anonymous northern poems contain the first record.[7]
  • 1313–1319 – Dante uses the verb.[4]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses the reflexive “to draw near”.[2]
  • 1573 – Torquato Tasso uses it for moving one thing nearer another.[2]
  • 1637 – Galileo uses avvicinamento.[2]
  • 1815 – It is used for approaching a person to talk, in the Milanese press.[2]
  • 1961 – Avvicinabile is recorded in Battaglia's dictionary.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To put something near or nearer to something else; to bring closer: Avvicina la lampada al libro.[4][8][10]
  2. (transitive) To go up to a person in order to speak to them; to approach: Un turista mi ha avvicinato per chiedere la strada.[4][8][9]
  3. (transitive) To get to know someone, enter into relations with them: un dirigente difficile da avvicinare.[4][8]
  4. (transitive, figurative) To bring people closer together, or someone closer to an interest or belief: Il viaggio li ha avvicinati alla musica africana.[4][8][10]
  5. (transitive, figurative) To bring forward a date or deadline.[4][8]
  6. (pronominal, avvicinarsi) To come or go nearer; of time, to draw near: Si avvicina l'autunno.[8][10][9]
  7. (pronominal, figurative) To resemble, come close to: La copia si avvicina molto al quadro originale.[10][9]

Word family

  • avvicinamento
  • avvicinabile
  • ravvicinare
  • riavvicinare

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 383
  6. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 899
  7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
Cite this entry

“Avvicinare.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/avvicinare. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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