chiedere

Forms

chiedere or chiédere (first-person singular present chièdo or chiédo, first-person singular past historic chièsi or chiési, past participle chièsto or chiésto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old Italian also has chierere, in Guittone, Dante and Petrarch.^[2] DEI records chérere and Guittone's chiedire.^[3] Old present forms are chieggo and chieggio.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin quaerō (“to seek; to ask”), with dissimilation of the first /r/ to /d/ before the second.^[6][7][8][1] DELI compares armadio and rado, where the second /r/ changed instead; the old form ⟨chierere⟩ keeps the Latin consonant.^[6][2] The word is panromance: Old French querre and French quérir, Occitan querre, Spanish querer and Portuguese querer (“to want, to love”), Sardinian chèrrere (“to want”) and Romanian cere.^[7][9] Guittone's ⟨chiedire⟩ shows the same change of conjugation as the French verb.^[3]

The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain: DEI calls it unknown, and Nocentini does not specify it.^[3][7] De Vaan prefers the proposal that it is built on Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”), comparing Ancient Greek πέπαμαι (pépamai, “to have acquired”), while the LIV derives it from *h₂eys- (“to seek, ask”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Guido Faba's Parlamenta, about 1243, in Bolognese.^[11] DELI's first record is the testament of Beatrice da Capraia, 1278, in the sense “to make a claim, to express a wish in order to have it satisfied”;^[6][8] GRADIT also gives 1278.^[6][8] “To ask a question” is in Dante, 1300–1313.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb kept senses close to Latin: “to search for, to look for” and “to desire”, beside “to beg” (chiedere elemosina) and “to ask for in marriage” (chiedere per moglie).^[11] With an abstract or inanimate subject it meant “to require”.^[11] The nouns chiesta (request), before 1292 in Bono Giamboni, and the participle chiesto, before 1294 in Guittone, are early derivatives.^[6]

In modern Italian chiedere is the everyday verb both for asking for something and for asking a question, and chiedere di qualcuno means to ask after someone or to ask to speak to them.^[8] Set phrases include chiedere la mano (to ask for a woman's hand) and chiedere conto (to call to account).^[8]

Timeline

• About 1243 – Guido Faba uses the verb in Bolognese.^[11]
• 1278 – The testament of Beatrice da Capraia.^[6]
• Before 1292 – Chiesta, “request”, in Bono Giamboni.^[6]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “to ask a question”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask for, to request: ha chiesto un aumento al direttore.^[8][1]
2. To ask, to put a question: chiedi all’autista dove dobbiamo scendere.^[8][1]
3. (absolute) To beg.^[8]
4. To expect, to demand: dalla vita non chiede molto.^[8]
5. Of things, to require: un mestiere che chiede mani ferme.^[8][11]
6. To ask as a price: quanto chiede per la bicicletta?^[8]
7. (intransitive) chiedere di, to ask after someone, or to ask to speak to them: al telefono qualcuno ha chiesto del titolare.^[8][1]
8. chiedersi, to wonder: mi chiedo dove sia finito.^[1]

Word family

• chiesta
• chiesto
• richiedere
• richiesta
• chiedibile

Related words

• Latin quaero
• French quérir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 276
3. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 897
4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it