Etymologically
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capace

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Pronunciation

  • /kaˈpa.t͡ʃe/[1]

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

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