capace

Forms

capace m or f by sense (plural capaci, superlative capacissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin capāx (“able to hold; capable”), a learned word, from capiō (“to take, to hold”) with the suffix -āx.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Devoto compares edāx (“greedy”) beside the verb for “to eat”.^[6] The Latin adjective was taken over learnedly by Catalan capaç, Spanish capaz and Portuguese capaz around the 15th century;^[7][3] French normally says capable and has “capace” only rarely (1857).^[7][3] Its development of meaning matches that of capire.^[8]

“Capiō” goes back to Proto-Italic *kap-i-, from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or a non-Indo-European *kap- (“to seize”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Jacopone da Todi, before 1306, in the sense “able, capable”.^[10][2][4] The sense “able to hold many people or things, roomy” is found in Siena at the end of the 13th century and in Florence in 1313–1314.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for able to understand something and for being within someone's reach.^[10] capacità is older still: Dante has it in 1294 for the ability to hold, and Jacopone for ability; it was used for a capable person (1848) after French capacité, for legal capacity (1801) and in physics for electrical capacity (1818).^[2] capacitare “to convince” and capacitarsi “to be convinced” date from 1690, and incapace from the early 16th century.^[2][3]

The sense “convinced”, as in rendere qualcuno capace, is now uncommon.^[4][11] In regional and colloquial use è capace che means “it is likely that”, an impersonal use that Mexican Spanish es capaz parallels.^[4][12][7]

Timeline

• 1294 – Dante uses capacità.^[2]
• Before 1306 – First record of capace, in Jacopone.^[2][10]
• 1313–1314 – A Florentine text uses it for a roomy city.^[7]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses the sense “roomy”.^[2]
• Early 16th century – Incapace is recorded.^[3]
• 1690 – Capacitare “to convince” is recorded.^[2]
• 1801 – Cuoco uses capacità for legal capacity.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. able to do something (capace di with an infinitive): Mia nipote è già capace di andare in bicicletta.^[4][11][12]
2. capable, skilled, good at one's job: Lo ha operato un chirurgo molto capace.^[4][11]
3. Likely or ready to do something, usually something bad, capace di tutto, without scruples.^[4][11][12]
4. Able to hold a given number of people or things: Il serbatoio è capace di cinquanta litri.^[4][11][12]
5. roomy, spacious: una valigia capace.^[4][11][12]
6. (colloquial, regional) In è capace che: it is likely that.^[4][12]
7. (uncommon) Convinced, persuaded.^[4][11]
8. (law) Having legal capacity, capace di intendere e di volere, of sound mind.^[4][12]

Word family

• capacità
• capacitarsi
• capacitare
• incapace
• incapacità
• capacimetro
• capacitanza
• capacitivo

Related words

• capire
• Latin capāx
• French capable

Usage notes

In familiar speech capace also takes a before an infinitive instead of di.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 10, 1597
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 730
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse