Etymologically
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avvicinare

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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