consigliere

Forms

consigliere m or f by sense (plural consiglieri, feminine consigliera)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian consilliere, conseglier, consegliere and chonsiglieri, and the older literary language also had consigliero.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French conseillier (“adviser”), which continues Latin consiliārius (“adviser, counsellor”).^{[3][5][6][7][8]} Devoto gives the same explanation.^[9] Wiktionary instead analyses it as an Italian formation from consiglio with the suffix -iere, the form the borrowing has in Italian.^[1]

The Latin adjective and noun are formed from cōnsilium (“debate, advice”) with the suffix -ārius.^[10][1][5] This noun belongs with cōnsulō (“to consult”), which de Vaan traces, through a Proto-Italic compound, to Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“to take”).^[11] The same Latin word is Old Occitan conselhier, French conseiller, Spanish consejero and Portuguese conselheiro.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Breve di Montieri of 1219, in the form consilliere and the sense “one who gives advice”.^[3][2][6] The form consigliere appears in the 14th-century Italian version of Marco Polo.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word for a member of a council, for members of guilds and confraternities, for those who assisted a ruler or office-holder, and for envoys.^[2] Villani, before 1348, is DELI's first author for the sense “member of a council”.^[3] At sea a consigliere was the pilot's aide, who kept the charts and the compass on galleys.^[2][4]

In modern administration the word became a title: consigliere comunale (a town councillor), consigliere di Stato and the judges of the courts of appeal and of cassation, and in companies consigliere delegato, a director with delegated powers, first recorded in 1918.^[3][8][4] In the figurative sense an emotion or impulse is called a good or bad adviser.^[6][7] English borrowed the word as consigliere.^[1]

Timeline

• 1219 – Consilliere “adviser” appears in the Breve di Montieri.^[3][2]
• 14th century – The form consigliere appears in the Italian version of Marco Polo.^[3]
• Before 1348 – Villani uses it for a member of a council.^[3]
• 1918 – Consigliere delegato, a company director with delegated powers, is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An adviser, someone who gives advice or is regularly consulted: Mia sorella è da anni la mia consigliera più fidata.^[6][7][13]
2. (figurative) A feeling or impulse that drives someone to act: la paura è una cattiva consigliera.^[6][7][8]
3. A councillor, a member of a council or board, and the title of certain public offices: consigliere comunale, consigliere di Stato.^[6][8][14]
4. A member of a company's board of directors, who assists the chairman: consigliere d'amministrazione, consigliere delegato.^[6][14][15]
5. (historical, law) A jurist whom a judge consulted for an opinion on a case.^[6][14]
6. (historical, nautical) The pilot's aide on a ship, who kept the charts and the compass.^[6][13][4]

Word family

• consigliera

Related words

• consigliabile
• consigliare
• consiglio
• consiliare
• French conseiller
• Latin consiliarius

Usage notes

The feminine is consigliera; the masculine is also used of women who hold the office.^[13][1] The older form consigliero is now only literary.^[14][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli