chiamare

Forms

chiamare (first-person singular present chiàmo, first-person singular past historic chiamài, past participle chiamàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin clāmō (“to shout, proclaim; to call by name”).^[2][3][4][1] Its learned doublet is clamare.^[1][5] The word is panromance: Romanian chema, Dalmatian klamuar, Friulian clamâ, Old French clamer, Occitan clamar, Catalan clamar, Spanish llamar, Portuguese chamar and Sardinian giamare.^[3][6][7] The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance verb with the senses “to shout”, “to call”, “to proclaim”, “to name” and “to be called”.^[8]

The Latin verb is formed from an unattested noun *clāma, from the root of calō (“to call out, summon”), which is also in calende.^[3][9][2] Devoto adds chiaro to the same family.^[9] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to shout, call”);^[1] related are Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō, “I call”) and Hittite kales- (“to call”).^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record, in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, has the sense “to address someone by voice or sign to get their attention or make them come”.^[2][4] The statute says that the lord “si debia chiamare tre omini della compagnia sanza malizia” (shall call three men of the company without malice).^[11]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian kept the Latin sense “to shout, cry out”, as in Dante's Convivio (“chiamare contra queste false meretrici”, to cry out against these false harlots).^[7] The senses “to invoke” (Jacopone, before 1306), “to draw to oneself” (Guido Cavalcanti, before 1300) and “to give a name” (Dante, 1293–1294) followed, and the reflexive chiamarsi “to be called” is in Cecco Angiolieri before 1313.^[2]

Through Venetian ciamàr the word entered the language of sailors, and Piedmontese ciamada gave French chamade, a drum signal for a parley.^[10] In modern Italian the verb also means to telephone, to wake someone, to summon a professional and, in the passive, to have a vocation.^[4][12][13]

Timeline

• 1219 – Chiamare “to call” in the Breve di Montieri.^[2]
• 1293–1294 – Dante uses chiamare “to name”.^[2]
• 1294 – Chiamata “a call” is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses chiamare “to invoke”.^[2]
• Before 1313 – Chiamarsi “to be named” in Cecco Angiolieri.^[2]
• 1661 – Chiama “roll call” in a Pistoia ordinance.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To call, to address someone by name or sign to get their attention: la chiamai dalla finestra.^[4][12][5]
2. To phone: ti chiamo quando arrivo.^[4][12][13]
3. To wake: chiamami alle sei, per favore.^[4][12][14]
4. To send for, to summon: chiamare l'idraulico, è stato chiamato dal preside.^[4][12][15]
5. To name, to call by a name: lo chiamavano il Rosso.^[4][5][14]
6. To describe as, to define: questo non si può chiamare un successo.^[4][5]
7. To appoint, to elect to an office; in the passive, to have a vocation: si sentiva chiamato all'insegnamento.^[4][13][15]
8. chiamarsi: to be called: come ti chiami?.^[2][1]

Word family

• chiamata
• chiama
• richiamare
• richiamo

Related words

• clamore
• esclamare
• proclamare
• acclamare
• calende
• Latin clāmō
• Spanish llamar

Usage notes

Set phrases include chiamare alle armi (to call up), chiamare in causa (to involve), chiamare a raccolta (to rally) and chiamare le cose col loro nome (to call a spade a spade).^[4][13] Dio l'ha chiamato a sé is a euphemism for a death.^[4][15] The learned clamare survives as a literary doublet.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 983
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 91
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 891
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana