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compito

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Italian has two words spelled compito: the noun cómpito “task”, related to Latin computus “reckoning”, and the adjective compìto “polite”, the past participle of compire.[1][2][3] GRADIT numbers the noun 1 and the adjective 2;[1] DELI and Nocentini treat them under different heads.[2][3]

compito1 task

Pronunciation

  • /ˈkom.pi.to/, /ˈkɔm.pi.to/[4]

Forms

compito m (plural compiti)[4]

Etymology

The task is from Italian compitare + -o, a noun formed from the verb in its old sense “to reckon, to compute”, according to DELI, GRADIT, DEI and Sabatini–Coletti.[2][1][5][6][4] “Compitare” is from Latin computō (“to reckon, to count”), which also gave contare and the learned computare.[2][3][1] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Treccani instead take the noun directly from computus (“reckoning, account”), beside the learned computo and the popular conto: the first sense would have been “a reckoned amount of work given to someone”.[3][7][8] The LEI also lists “compito” among the learned outcomes of “computus”, and records Old Florentine “compito” “calculation, total” in Giovanni Villani (before 1348).[9]

Nocentini compares the history of French tâche, from Medieval Latin taxa (“tax”), first a tax and then a task, the source of English task.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the sense “assigned work, duty” is in Lionardo Salviati (1566);[2][1] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the noun to the 14th century, and DEI gives the 14th century for the old sense “reckoning”.[3][7][5] In Old Florentine a compito meant “sparingly, in measured quantity”, a phrase still used by Ariosto (before 1533).[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo's dictionary describes the compito as the amount of work set for someone or that one sets oneself, such as the flax a girl had to spin, and compares Latin pensum, from pendere “to weigh”;[11] non uscir del compito meant to do exactly what one was told.[11] The school sense, a written exercise set by the teacher, is recorded from 1865.[2] Compito in classe is a test done in class, and compiti per casa homework.[1][7]

Timeline

  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses Old Florentine compito for a calculation.[9]
  • 1566 – Salviati uses compito for assigned work.[2]
  • 1865 – The school sense is recorded by Tommaseo.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A task, a piece of work given to someone or that one sets oneself: Le hanno affidato un compito difficile.[1][7][6]
  2. A duty, a function; the role of a thing: È compito dell'arbitro far rispettare le regole.[1][7][8]
  3. A school exercise; in the plural, homework: Ha finito i compiti prima di cena. Compito in classe: a written test.[1][7][12]
  4. The work handed in by a pupil: Il maestro sta correggendo i compiti.[1][8]
  5. (archaic) Reckoning, calculation.[6][12][10]

Word family

  • compitino

compito2 polite

Pronunciation

  • /komˈpi.to/[4]

Forms

compito (feminine compita, masculine plural compiti, feminine plural compite, superlative compitissimo)[4]

Etymology

The adjective is the past participle of compire, the form in “-ire” of compiere, meaning “completed, perfect”.[2][3][5][1] “Compire” is inherited from Vulgar Latin *complīre, a form of Latin complēre (“to fill up, to complete”) that moved to the conjugation in “-īre”;[13] Medieval Latin complire is recorded in 726.[13] The same type is Old French complir, Catalan complir, Romanian cumpli and Friulian compî.[13] The LEI notes that “compire” and “compito” were widespread in medieval northern Italy, while Tuscany preferred “compiere” and compiuto.[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a document from the Marche of 1193, and DELI's is in Guido Guinizelli (before 1276), in the sense “completed, fully realised”.[14][2] In Old Italian it also meant “whole, entire” and “perfect in its kind, endowed with every virtue”.[14][5]

Semantic evolution

Petrarch writes La mia favola breve è già compita (“My brief tale is already finished”), and Dante has dolor compito, a pain fully matching one's fury.[15][7] Bembo remarked that compito was more graceful in verse but did not belong to prose, where compiuto was used.[15] From “perfect in every quality”, especially in social life, came the modern sense “well-mannered, courteous”;[14][5] compitezza “politeness” is recorded in the 17th century.[5]

Timeline

  • 1193 – Compito appears in a document from the Marche.[14]
  • Before 1276 – Guinizelli uses it for “completed”.[2]
  • 14th century – DEI dates the sense “endowed with every virtue”.[5]
  • 17th century – Compitezza “politeness” is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. polite, courteous, with faultless manners: Il nuovo vicino è un signore molto compito.[1][7][6]
  2. (literary) Completed, finished.[7][6][10]
  3. (literary) Whole, full, adequate.[7][12][10]

Word family

  • compitezza
  • compitamente
  • computo
  • conto
  • compiere
  • compiuto
  • Latin computus

Usage notes

The noun is stressed on the first syllable, cómpito, and the adjective on the second, compìto; the accent may be written to tell them apart.[12][4] DEI and the TLIO also record an old cómpito “crossroads”, from Latin compitum, which survives in place names such as Compito.[5][14][16]

References

  1. ^ 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
  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 e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1037
  6. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  9. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 829
  10. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 468
  14. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  16. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter