congiurare

Forms

congiurare (first-person singular present congiùro, first-person singular past historic congiurài, past participle congiuràto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin coniūrō (“to swear together; to conspire”).^[2][3][4][1] DEI and the GDLI class it as a learned word.^[5][6] In Latin the verb meant first “to swear together” and then “to bind oneself by an oath, to conspire”; it is made of the prefix con- and iūrō (“to swear”).^[2][3][7] The same Latin verb gave French conjurer, Occitan conjurar, Catalan conjurar, Spanish conjurar and Portuguese conjurar.^[3] The French verb is recorded from the 12th century.^[5]

That verb is in turn formed from iūs (“law, right”), through an Archaic Latin iovesō.^[1] The inherited Italian verb of the same family is giurare.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Brunetto Latini's Rettorica, a Florentine text of about 1260–1261.^[9] Zingarelli likewise dates the word to about 1261.^[7] DELI's first date for the sense “to organize a conspiracy” is later: before 1348, in the chronicle of Giovanni Villani.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb covered more than political conspiracy: it also meant to agree on a common aim, to form an alliance against someone, to gather in a seditious assembly, and, of events, to work against someone.^[9] It could also mean to call up the souls of the dead or demons with spells, as when Virgil in Dante's Inferno says he was once congiurato da quella Eritón cruda (“conjured by that cruel Erichtho”).^[9][7][10] Other old senses were to beseech someone in the name of God, the sense later carried by scongiurare, and to affirm solemnly.^[9]

The noun congiura, formed from the verb with no suffix, and congiurato “conspirator” are both found in Dino Compagni's chronicle of 1310–1312.^[2] DELI dates the figurative use of circumstances that conspire to bring about something bad to before 1764 (Francesco Algarotti).^[2] The phrase congiura del silenzio, a tacit agreement to harm someone by never mentioning them or their work, is recorded from 1908.^[2]

Today the old meaning “to swear together” is archaic, and the transitive use for summoning spirits survives only in poetry.^[8][11][10]

Timeline

• About 1260–1261 – First record, in Brunetto Latini's Rettorica.^[9]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the verb for conjuring a spirit.^[7][10]
• 1310–1312 – Congiura and congiurato appear in Dino Compagni.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for organizing a conspiracy.^[2]
• Before 1764 – Francesco Algarotti uses it of circumstances that work against someone.^[2]
• 1908 – Congiura del silenzio is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To conspire or plot in secret to overthrow a government or those in power: Alcuni ufficiali congiurarono contro il re.^{[4][8][11][12]}
2. (by extension) To scheme against someone; also jokingly, of people secretly planning something together.^[4][10][13]
3. (figurative) Of events or circumstances, to combine to bring about an unfavourable result: Anche il vento congiurava contro i velisti.^[4][8][7]
4. (archaic) To swear together, to bind oneself by a common oath.^[8][11][12]
5. (archaic, poetic, transitive) To summon or conjure spirits by magic formulas.^[7][10][9]

Word family

• congiura
• congiurato
• congiuratore
• congiurazione
• scongiurare
• scongiuro

Related words

• giurare
• Latin coniūrō
• French conjurer

Usage notes

The verb takes the auxiliary avere and is usually followed by contro or ai danni di for the victim.^[8][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1061
6. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 556
7. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli