Etymologically
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cliente

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Pronunciation

  • /kliˈɛn.te/[1]
  • Regional: /kliˈen.te/[1]

Forms

cliente m or f by sense (plural clienti)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin cliēns (“dependant, client”), the word for a free man under the protection of a patron in ancient Rome.[2][3][4][5] The same Latin word gave French client (from 1437), Spanish cliente (from 1490), Catalan client and Portuguese cliente, and Friulian cliènt and Romansh client.[5][3]

DELI and GRADIT call the origin of the Latin noun uncertain.[2][4] Nocentini takes it as a present participle meaning “one who bows down”, from the root that gave clīnō (“to bend”) and Italian chinare.[3] De Vaan, in the same line, reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *ḱli-ent- (“who leans”), an active participle of Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”).[6] Devoto, and Wiktionary as one possibility, derive it instead from the participle of clueō (“to be called, be esteemed; to obey”), and Plautus has forms with ⟨clu-⟩.[7][1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are from the first half of the 14th century: a Venetian translation of Ovid's Art of Love uses cliente for someone who turns to a lawyer, and Lucan's translation from Prato, before 1333, has the form cliento in the Roman sense.[9][5] DELI's first dates are later: Guicciardini, before 1540, for the Roman client, and Alessandro Citolini, 1561, for a regular customer of a professional or a shop.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From Roman history the word passed to anyone who seeks the favour of a powerful man and, pejoratively, to the supporter of a politician who backs him for advantage rather than conviction.[10][4] Clientela had the same course: Guicciardini (before 1540) used it for a great man's followers, and a professional's or shop's customers are recorded in 1857.[2] Clientelismo, patronage politics, appeared in 1963.[2][3]

The commercial sense spread through most of the dialects, from Piedmontese and Lombard to Corsican and Roman criente.[5] In computing client is a borrowing from English.[5]

Timeline

  • Before 1333 – Cliento appears in a translation of Lucan from Prato.[5]
  • First half of the 14th century – A Venetian translation of Ovid uses cliente for a lawyer's client.[9]
  • 1479 – Poliziano uses cliente.[5]
  • Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses it for the Roman client, and clientela.[2]
  • 1561 – Alessandro Citolini uses it for a regular customer.[2]
  • 1963 – Clientelismo is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A customer, someone who buys goods or services from a shop or business, especially regularly: Il barista conosce tutti i suoi clienti per nome.[4][11][12]
  2. A client of a professional, such as a lawyer: L’avvocato riceve i clienti il martedì.[4][12][13]
  3. A guest of a hotel or a regular of a bar or restaurant.[1][12]
  4. (history) In ancient Rome, a free man under the protection of a patron.[4][14][11]
  5. (derogatory) A hanger-on who serves a powerful person, especially a politician, in return for favours.[4][14][13]

Word family

  • clientela
  • clientelare
  • clientelismo
  • clientolo

Usage notes

Cliente is masculine or feminine according to the person: un cliente, una cliente.[1][13] The pejorative diminutives are clientuccio and clientucolo.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 41
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 227
  11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ 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