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compreso

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word compreso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1252–1258 Storie de Troia et de Roma (Rome) More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin prehendō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian comprendere
Italian compreso

Pronunciation

  • /komˈpre.zo/, /komˈpre.so/[1]

Forms

compreso (feminine compresa, masculine plural compresi, feminine plural comprese)[1] Old Italian forms include compriso, conpreso, compreiso and comprexo.[2]

Etymology

It is from Italian comprendere: its past participle, from Latin comprēnsus, a variant of comprehēnsus, the participle of comprehendō (“to grasp; to include; to understand”).[3][4][1] The LEI counts this participle among the popular forms of the verb, beside learned forms that keep the cluster of the Latin.[5] The Latin verb is formed from com- (“with”) and prehendō (“to grasp, seize”),[6] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *gʰ-n-(e)-d- (“to grab”), comparing Ancient Greek χανδάνω (khandánō, “to grab”).[7]

The verb comprendere continues in French comprendre, Occitan compendre, Spanish comprender, Portuguese comprender, Sardinian cumprèndere and Romanian cuprinde, “to embrace, contain”.[3] The senses “contain, include” and “perceive, understand” were already in the Latin of the Vulgate.[5] incompreso is a separate borrowing from Late Latin, recorded in 1592.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Roman Storie de Troia et de Roma of 1252–58.[2] Old Italian used the word for something included in a group or an area, wrapped in a material, held in an embrace, caught between enemies or caught in a fault.[2]

Semantic evolution

Early texts also used it of a person seized by a strong feeling: Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto has conpreso di smisurati mali, “seized by measureless ills”, about 1274.[5] This sense stayed in the literary language;[8][4] Manzoni writes that Lucia stood tutta compresa d'orrore e di compassione.[8][4] A noun compreso, “extent, circuit of a city's walls”, is found in Giovanni Villani and is now obsolete.[9][2][10] Under the influence of Latin comprehensus the word could also mean “expressed” of a speech.[2]

In modern Italian the word is common in absolute constructions meaning “including”, such as compresa la mancia.[11] Tutto compreso means “all things considered”, and in advertising it also describes an all-inclusive offer.[4][12] A newer sense is “understood with sympathy”, of a person whose feelings are understood by others.[8][4]

Timeline

  • 1252–1258 – The Storie de Troia et de Roma use compreso.[2]
  • About 1274 – Brunetto Latini uses conpreso “seized” by ills.[5]
  • 1592 – Incompreso is recorded.[3]
  • 1612 – The Crusca dictionary records compreso di “filled with”.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Contained, included; in absolute constructions, “including”: Il pranzo costa venti euro, bevande comprese.[13][10][12]
  2. Understood, grasped by the mind.[13][10][14]
  3. Understood with sympathy, accepted by family or others: Non si è mai sentito compreso dai colleghi.[8][4][13]
  4. (literary) Filled with a feeling, with di: compreso di stupore.[8][4][12]
  5. Intent, absorbed, with in; taking one's role or authority very seriously.[4][13][12]

Noun

  1. (obsolete) Extent, the area enclosed by something.[10][14][9]

Usage notes

Tutto compreso means “all things considered” and, of a price, “all-inclusive”.[4][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  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 i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
  6. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
Cite this entry

“Compreso.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/compreso. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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