compiere

Forms

compiere or còmpiere (first-person singular present cómpio or còmpio, first-person singular past historic compiéi or (more common) compìi, past participle compiùto, first-person singular imperfect compiévo or (more common) compìvo, first-person singular future compierò or (more common) compirò, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive compiéssi or (more common) compìssi, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin compleō (“to fill up; to complete”), formed from pleō (“to fill”) with con-, related to plēnus (“full”), with a change of conjugation.^[2][3][4][5] The LEI distinguishes a type in ⟨-ĕre⟩ (*còmplere), the source of the headword, mostly Tuscan;^[6][7] ⟨compiére⟩, which keeps ⟨-ēre⟩, mostly for the metre in old texts; and a type in ⟨-īre⟩ (*complīre), the source of compire, recorded in Medieval Latin as complire in 726 and common in northern Italy.^[6][7] The ⟨-pi-⟩ from Latin ⟨-pl-⟩ is regular; forms with ⟨-pl-⟩ are Latinisms.^[6]

The verb continues everywhere in the Romance languages except Spanish and Portuguese: Old French complir (modern French accomplir), Occitan complir and Catalan complir, from which Spanish cumplir and Portuguese cumprir come.^[3][6][8] In the southern dialects it means “to ripen”, as in Sicilian cunchiri.^[8][9] Compieta “compline” is Medieval Latin complēta, short for the hour that completes the day.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Fabriano document of 1186, and GRADIT dates the old variant conplere to the second half of the 12th century.^[10][4] DELI's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini (before 1250), with the sense “to bring to an end”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to do, carry out, fulfil” is in Dante (1304–1308), and the reflexive “to come to an end, come true” in Guido Cavalcanti before 1300.^[2] Old Italian also used the verb for paying off a sum or settling an account, for making something perfect, and for saying compline.^[10][6] The old sense “to fill”, the Latin one, is in Dante: di che stupor dovea esser compiuto! “with what amazement must he have been filled!”.^[5][4]

Compiere gli anni “to have one's birthday” is common in every tense.^[5][4] The variant complire, used from the 16th to the 18th century, and complimento came from Spanish cumplir and cumplimiento.^[11]

Timeline

• 1186 – a Fabriano document has the verb.^[10]
• 1211 – compimento is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses compiere “to bring to an end”.^[2]
• Before 1300 – Guido Cavalcanti uses the reflexive “to come true”.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “to carry out, fulfil”.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses compieta “compline”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To complete, finish, bring to an end: compiere il restauro della chiesa.^[4][7][12]
2. compiere gli anni: to have one's birthday: Domani compio trent'anni.^[4][7][13]
3. To carry out, perform, do: compiere un sorpasso.^[4][7][12]
4. To fulfil (a duty); to satisfy (a wish).^[4][7][5]
5. To commit (a crime).^[4][14]
6. To cover (a distance) in a given time.^[4]
7. (archaic) To fill.^[4][12][13]
8. (intransitive, compiersi) To come to an end; to come true: Il presagio si è compiuto..^[7][12][14]

Word family

• compimento
• compiuto
• compiutezza
• compito
• compitezza
• compieta
• ricompiere

Related words

• compiersi
• compleanno
• complemento
• completivo
• completo
• complimento
• empire
• compire
• complire
• pieno
• Latin compleō

Usage notes

Most forms come from the variant compire: the past historic compii is more common than compiei, and so are compivo and compirò; only the gerund compiendo and the participle compiuto are always from compiere.^[5][13][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 468
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1037
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 316
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana