congedo

Forms

congedo m (plural congedi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian congiedo, Old Italian congietto, Old Italian coniedu and Old Italian cunchedu.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French congiet, the Old French form of French congé, from Latin commeātus (“leave to depart”).^[3][4][5][1] The Old French word is recorded from the 10th century.^[3][5] The Latin noun is formed from commeō (“to go to and fro”).^[6][1] It first meant “passage, transport”, then in military language an order to march or move, and so a pass or leave.^[7]

The same Latin word was inherited as commiato, and as Old Occitan comjat, Catalan comiat and Romansh cumiau.^[3][8][9] Devoto explains the ⟨d⟩ of the Italian loan through an intermediate form with ⟨t⟩, which took the northern voicing of a /t/ between vowels.^[10] Körting found the form striking.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Tristano Riccardiano at the end of the 13th century (Tuscan), in the sense “permission to leave”.^[2] DELI dates it to Boccaccio, about 1336.^[3][5] In the Filocolo a character wishes to return to Marmorina con suo congedo, “with his leave”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used dare congedo, to allow someone to go or send them away, and prendere congedo, to take one's leave, and the word could also mean any permission or a farewell greeting.^[2] Tommaseo records the udienza di congedo of ambassadors leaving their post.^[12]

The military sense, the end of service, appears in 1797 in the minutes of the provisional Municipality of Venice, and leave granted to civil servants in 1878.^[3] Carducci used congedo for the last, shorter stanza of a canzone, which had been called commiato and sometimes still is.^[3] The verb congedare is recorded before 1729, in the military sense in 1801, and as a reflexive in Foscolo.^[3]

Meyer-Lübke and DEI take French congédier (“to dismiss”), recorded about 1400, as a loan from Italian.^[9][13] DIFIT dates it to 1409 and explains it as Old French congier crossed with the Italian word.^[14]

Timeline

• 10th century – Old French congiet is recorded.^[3]
• End of the 13th century – The Tristano Riccardiano has the TLIO's first record.^[2]
• c. 1336 – Boccaccio uses congedo.^[3][5]
• 1409 – French congédier is recorded.^[14]
• Before 1729 – Congedare “to dismiss” in Anton Maria Salvini.^[3]
• 1797 – The sense “discharge from military service” at Venice.^[3]
• 1865–1874 – Carducci uses it for the closing stanza of a canzone.^[3]
• 1878 – The sense “leave granted to civil servants” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Permission to leave, leave to go: prendere congedo, to take one's leave, and dare congedo, to dismiss.^[5][15][16]
2. A farewell, the parting and the greetings before it: un congedo commosso.^[5][16]
3. (military) discharge, the end of military service, and the status of a soldier who has completed it: foglio di congedo, discharge papers.^[5][15][17]
4. Leave of absence from work: congedo matrimoniale, congedo di maternità.^[5][15][16]
5. (prosody) The short final stanza of a canzone, the envoi, and in the Italian ballata the closing stanza.^[5][15][16]
6. The status of a university student who has asked to transfer to another university.^[5][16]
7. (liturgy) The close of a service, especially the blessing and dismissal at the end of Mass.^[5][15][18]
8. (theatre) The closing lines of a play that sum up its moral, and the actors' farewell to the audience.^[5][15][16]

Word family

• congedare
• congedato
• congedando

Related words

• commiato
• accomiatare
• French congé
• Latin commeatus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 545
8. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1059
14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
18. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)