chinare

Forms

chinare (first-person singular present chìno, first-person singular past historic chinài, past participle chinàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old Italian forms include chinar, clinare in L'Aquila, and central forms such as chienato.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin clīnāre (“to bend, incline”).^{[4][5][6][1][7]} DELI and Nocentini say that Latin records it only in compounds such as dēclīnō, inclīnō and reclīnō, and in the participle clīnātus (“bent”).^[4][5][6] The LEI finds the simple verb attested sporadically, and Körting cites the participle from Cicero's Aratea.^[3][8] The same verb gave Old French cliner and Old Occitan clinar.^[7][3]

Wiktionary traces it through Proto-Italic to Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”).^[1] Nocentini names as cognates Ancient Greek κλίνω (klínō, “to make lean, rest”), Lithuanian šliẽti and Old High German hlinēn (“to lean”), whence German lehnen and the English word lean.^[5][9][10] In Latin the root is also in clīvus (“slope”).^[11][5]

The noun china “slope” is a deverbal noun without a suffix, and chino “bent” a shortened participle.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first attestation is the Ritmo di sant'Alessio, from the Marche in the second half of the 12th century.^[2] DELI dates the transitive verb, “to bend down towards the ground”, from the Fiori di filosafi of 1264, and the reflexive, “to bend down with one's body”, from Restoro d'Arezzo in 1282.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the verb for land that slopes away, for something that declines or weakens, for moving down or falling, for knocking down, for turning one's gaze, for tilting a vessel, for bowing in honour and for subduing;^[2] chinare le orecchie meant to believe someone.^[2] Dante bows his face in Chinai il viso e tanto il tenni basso (Inferno 5), and Manfred chinò la fronte, e più non disse (Purgatorio 3).^[12][13] Varchi observes that bowing the head to a request means yes.^[13][12]

The participle gave chinato and chino, and the noun china “slope” is recorded from Bono Giamboni before 1292.^[4] In literary use the verb is also said of time passing and of a star setting, as in Campana's Chinan l'ore.^[6][14]

Timeline

• Second half of the 12th century – The Ritmo di sant'Alessio from the Marche uses the verb.^[2]
• 1264 – The Fiori di filosafi use chinare “to bend down”.^[4]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses the reflexive.^[4]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses china “slope” and chinato.^[4]
• 1280–1310 – The Fiore has chino “bent”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To bend or lower something towards the ground, such as the head, the eyes or the shoulders.^{[6][15][16][1]}
2. (intransitive, literary) Of time, to pass, draw to an end.^[6][14]
3. (intransitive, literary) Of a star, to set.^[6]
4. (intransitive, regional) To go down.^[14]
5. (reflexive, chinarsi) To bend down, stoop: si chinò a prendere la chiave.^[15][16][17]

Word family

• chino
• china
• chinato
• chinata
• chinatura
• richinare

Related words

• inchinare
• inclinare
• declinare
• reclinare
• Latin clīnō

Usage notes

Chinare il capo or la testa is to nod or bow, and figuratively to submit;^[16][17][18] chinare la schiena is to submit;^[16][17][18] chinare le ginocchia is to kneel.^[16][17][18] DEI also records a separate pharmaceutical verb chinare “to mix or flavour with cinchona (china)”.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 903
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 79
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli