consigliare

Forms

consigliare (first-person singular present consìglio, first-person singular past historic consigliài, past participle consigliàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōnsilior (“to take counsel; to advise”), a deponent verb formed from cōnsilium (“deliberation, advice”).^[2][3][4][1] Devoto and Treccani give the active form Medieval Latin consiliare as the source.^[5][6] The verb is found in most Romance languages: French conseiller, Old Occitan coselhar, Catalan consellar, Spanish consejar, Portuguese aconselhar and Romansh kusler, but not in Romanian.^[7][8] In Italian it can also be read as from Italian consiglio + -are.^[1]

De Vaan explains the Latin noun as formed from cōnsul, itself made to the verb cōnsulō (“to deliberate, consult”), and traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“to take”).^[9] The Latin ⟨-li-⟩ before a vowel gave ⟨-gli-⟩ /ʎ/, as in consiglio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is an anonymous poem from Ravenna of 1180–1210.^[10] DELI dates consilliare to 1219 in the Breve of Montieri and consigliare to before 1292 in Bono Giamboni, with the sense “to give advice, warnings and the like”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the verb more widely than today: to give advice and support, to reflect and make up one's mind, to discuss together before a decision, and to deliberate in a council or give a formal opinion with authority.^[10] The reflexive consigliarsi, to seek advice, is recorded before 1348 in Giovanni Villani.^[2] Dante's Convivio has the prudent man who advises another without waiting to be asked “Consigliami”, and Paolo da Certaldo warns that haste and anger are the enemies of judging and advising.^[11]

The modern verb means to give advice, to recommend something, and, with a threatening tone, to warn someone off (ti consiglio di smetterla).^[4][12][13] The literary reflexive “to resolve to do something” survives from Petrarch's Chi d’amar altamente si consiglia.^[6][13]

Timeline

• 1180–1210 – An anonymous poem from Ravenna has the verb.^[10]
• 1219 – Consilliare appears in the Breve of Montieri.^[2][4]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses consigliare.^[2]
• 14th century – Consigliamento, consigliativo and consigliatore are recorded.^[8]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses the reflexive consigliarsi “to seek advice”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To advise or counsel someone: mi hanno consigliato male.^{[4][12][14][1]}
2. To recommend something as good or useful: il dottore gli ha consigliato di camminare ogni giorno.^{[4][12][14][1]}
3. To warn someone, as a veiled threat: ti consiglio di non tornare.^[4][12][14]
4. To urge or persuade someone to something: consigliare i figli alla prudenza.^[4][12][15]
5. (reflexive) consigliarsi: to consult someone, to seek advice: consigliarsi con l'avvocato.^[12][14][13]
6. (reflexive, literary) To make up one's mind, to resolve to do something.^[14][13][15]

Word family

• sconsigliare
• consigliabile
• consigliato
• consigliatore

Related words

• consiglio
• consigliere
• consiliare
• Latin cōnsilium

Usage notes

A rare adjective consigliare is a variant of consiliare “of a council”.^[4][8][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1069
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana