Etymologically
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con

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Pronunciation

  • /kon/, /ˈkon/[1]

Forms

con[1] Old Italian has cun (Saint Francis) and the shortened co’; combined with the article it gives col, collo, colla, coi, cogli, colle.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cum (“with”), Old Latin ⟨com⟩, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, with”).[2][5][6][1] In Latin compounds it appears as the prefixes ⟨con-⟩ and ⟨co-⟩.[5] The Latin word corresponds to Oscan and Umbrian ⟨com⟩, Old Irish co and probably Sanskrit कम् (kam) and Old Church Slavonic къ (kŭ, “to”);[5][7][1] Wiktionary also compares the Germanic prefix Proto-Germanic *ga-.[5][7][1]

It survives in Spanish con, Portuguese com and Romanian cu; in French and Catalan it was replaced by Latin apud (“at, near”) (whence French avec).[5][8][9][4] As in Latin mēcum (“with me”), it follows the pronoun in Old and literary meco, teco and seco.[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to 1219.[6] DELI's first records are cun in Saint Francis of Assisi (before 1226) and con in Giacomo da Lentini (before 1250).[2] Sabatini–Coletti dates the word to the 11th century.[10]

Semantic evolution

From the basic idea of “alongside, connected with”, con developed two main lines of meaning, “together with” and “by means of”, which divide into company, union, relation, means, manner, quality and cause.[10][6] Old Italian had the compound contutto “together with”.[8][3]

In rowing, due con and quattro con are the coxed pair and coxed four, boats with a cox; in mathematics, a con due reads the symbol a₂.[11][10][12]

Timeline

  • 1219 – First record according to GRADIT.[6]
  • Before 1226 – Saint Francis of Assisi writes cun.[2]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini writes con.[2]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. with, in the company of: vivere con qualcuno; often strengthened by insieme or assieme.[6][11][1]
  2. Having with oneself; with, joined to: uscire con l'ombrello, una bistecca con le patatine.[6][11]
  3. In relation to, towards; against: è buono con tutti, litigare con qualcuno.[6][12]
  4. Introduces a comparison: paragonare questo con quello.[6]
  5. Expresses the means or instrument: arrivare col treno.[6][12][13]
  6. Expresses manner: con calma, con cura.[6][13]
  7. Expresses a quality: un gatto col pelo lungo.[6][13]
  8. Expresses cause or circumstance: con questo caldo.[13]
  9. (rowing) In due con, quattro con: coxed.[11][10]

Word family

  • contuttoché
  • contuttociò
  • meco
  • teco
  • seco
  • Latin cum

Usage notes

A separate, archaic con is a shortening of come “as, like”, found before consonants other than b, m and p, as in Dante's vidi un sene / vestito con le genti glorïose (“I saw an old man dressed like the glorious people”).[11][13][1][14] The combined forms col, coi and so on are now often written separately: con il, con i.[11][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1042
  5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca