concentrare

Forms

concentrare (first-person singular present concèntro or concéntro, first-person singular past historic concentrài, past participle concentràto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian con- + centro + -are, a parasynthetic verb meaning “to bring into a centre”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DEI and the GDLI call it a learned word and compare French concentrer, recorded in a figurative sense from 1611.^[7][8] Wiktionary takes it as a loan from the French verb.^[1]

The base is from Latin centrum (“pivot, point of the compasses”), from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “sting, goad; point of the compasses”).^[3][1] DELI forms concentrico in the same way.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the reflexive, “to gather oneself, devote oneself entirely”, in the 16th-century Lettere di santi e beati fiorentini.^[2][6] Zingarelli dates the verb to 1574.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense, “to gather, mass, bring together in one place”, is first recorded in Francesco Fulvio Frugoni, before 1686, who wrote of a woman with shortened hair who “concentrated her modesty in her pure eyes”.^[2][8] Tommaseo–Bellini records Soderini's figurative use of a poison that would “concentrate” inside a plant, and Torricelli's elements that tend to gather into a point.^[10] DEI dates the chemical sense, reducing the volume of a substance, to the 19th century, and in 1943 a political use, to shut people up in a campo di concentramento.^[7]

The figurative sense of directing one's mind or efforts to one aim, especially the reflexive concentrarsi “to concentrate”, is now the commonest.^[4][11][9]

Timeline

• 16th century – The reflexive concentrarsi appears in the Lettere di santi e beati fiorentini.^[2]
• Before 1569 – Concentrazione is recorded in Bernardo Tasso.^[2]
• 1574 – Zingarelli's date for concentrare.^[9]
• Before 1686 – Francesco Fulvio Frugoni uses the transitive verb.^[2]
• 1690 – Concentramento is recorded in Paolo Segneri.^[2]
• 19th century – The chemical sense appears.^[7]
• 1943 – Concentrare is used for confining people in a camp.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To gather, mass or bring together in one place: concentrare le forze sul fronte orientale.^[4][5][9]
2. (figurative) To focus attention, thought or energy on one aim: concentrare tutte le risorse sulla ricerca.^[4][5][6]
3. (chemistry) To increase the proportion of a substance in a mixture or solution by removing the other components.^[4][5][9]
4. (physiology) Of the kidneys, to excrete substances with little liquid.^[4]
5. (colloquial) To thicken, reduce by cooking: lasciare concentrare il brodo.^[4][12]
6. (reflexive) To gather, converge in one place: i tifosi si concentrarono davanti allo stadio.^[5][9][11]
7. (reflexive) To concentrate, apply one's whole mind: non riesco a concentrarmi con questo rumore.^[5][6][9]

Word family

• concentramento
• concentrato
• concentrazione
• concentrabile
• concentratore
• deconcentrare
• riconcentrare
• concentratario

Related words

• centro
• concentrico
• accentrare
• French concentrer

Usage notes

The present is concèntro, with an open vowel.^[1][9] Concéntro is also recorded.^[1][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1044
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 456
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli