comportare

Forms

comportare (first-person singular present compòrto, first-person singular past historic comportài, past participle comportàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin comportō (“to carry together, collect”), from com- (“with, together”) and portō (“to carry”).^[2][3][4][1] De Vaan takes the Latin simple verb as probably formed from a noun meaning “passage, crossing”, from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥-to- (“passed, crossed”).^[5]

The LEI finds the classical sense “to carry together, gather” continued only in Old French comporter and its Middle French continuation.^[6] The sense “to bear, tolerate”, which is also the first Italian one, is shared with Friulian compuartá, Romansh cumportar, French comporter, Old Occitan comportar, Catalan comportar (from 1305), Spanish comportar (from 1348) and Portuguese comportar.^[6][7] DEI calls the verb a word of Italian and western Romance.^[8] Meyer-Lübke notes that the Old French verb, meaning “to carry around”, was reshaped in the 16th century into French colporter.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Uguccione da Lodi, a Cremonese poet of the early 13th century.^[9] DELI's first date is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, with the sense “to bear, put up with”.^[2] Giacomo asks his lady to forgive him and to comportare his losing all joy, since love is killing him.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian comportare meant above all to accept without reacting what others did or said, and, from this to allow something to happen; the TLIO also records the reflexive sense “to keep one's balance in trouble”.^[9] Brunetto Latini uses it for “to permit” before 1294,^[2] and Boccaccio's Decameron has the sense “to endure”, as in bearing poverty patiently.^[11][10]

The reflexive comportarsi “to behave in a certain way” is first dated before 1446, in Agnolo Pandolfini.^[2] The sense “to bring with it as a consequence”, the main one today, is found before 1540 in Francesco Guicciardini.^[2] Nocentini sees it growing out of “to bear” in the 16th century, while Spanish has kept the older sense.^[3]

The noun comportamento “behaviour” is first recorded in 1812;^[2][3] the LEI thinks it probably came by way of French, which had comportement from 1475.^[6] Comportamentismo (1950) is a calque on English behaviorism.^[2] The noun comporto was a tolerance: in 1684 Tuscan proclamations use it for the permitted shortfall in the weight of coins, the Crusca of 1729 for the delay a creditor allows a debtor, and in 1925 it is the time a train must wait for a connecting one.^[2]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the verb.^[9]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses comportare “to bear, tolerate”.^[2][10]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini has the sense “to permit, allow”.^[2]
• Before 1446 – Agnolo Pandolfini uses the reflexive “to behave”.^[2]
• Before 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini has “to bring as a consequence”.^[2]
• 1684 – Comporto appears in Tuscan proclamations on coinage.^[2]
• 1812 – Comportamento “behaviour” is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1950 – Comportamentismo is recorded as the Italian for behaviourism.^[2]
• 1973 – The adjective comportamentale enters the Zingarelli dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To entail, to bring with it as a consequence: Il nuovo orario comporta qualche disagio per i pendolari.^[4][12][13]
2. To require or presuppose, also with che and the subjunctive: Questo mestiere comporta che si viaggi spesso.^[4][12]
3. To admit, allow: È una norma che non comporta deroghe.^[4][12][13]
4. (literary or uncommon) To bear, tolerate; of plants, to withstand (frost, a climate).^[4][12][14]
5. (reflexive, comportarsi) To behave, to act in a certain way: Si è comportato da vero amico.^[12][13][14]
6. (reflexive, comportarsi) Of animals, plants or substances, to react in a certain way under given conditions.^[12][15]

Word family

• comportamento
• comportamentale
• comportamentismo
• comporto
• comportabile
• comportevole

Related words

• portare
• French comporter

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 589
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1038
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana