correggere

Forms

correggere (first-person singular present corrèggo, first-person singular past historic corrèssi, past participle corrètto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin corrigō (“to straighten, set right”), a learned word that was reshaped after the inherited reggere, whose conjugation it follows.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DEI calls it a learned adaptation of the Latin verb and notes that the popular outcome survived in Old Milanese corze “to charge, entrust”.^[6] The same Latin verb gave French corriger and Spanish corregir.^[3]

That verb is formed from Latin com- + regō, the second part meaning “to direct, guide, govern”.^[2][7] De Vaan derives that verb from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to stretch, direct”).^[7] The participle corrēctus and its derivatives corrēctor and corrēctiō reached Italian by the learned route too, as corretto, correttore and correzione.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Patecchio's Splanamento, from Cremona in the 13th century, though it calls this record doubtful.^[8] DELI dates the sense “admonish, advise” to 1304–1308 in Dante, the reflexive “free oneself of a fault” to before 1306 in Iacopone, and the sense “remove mistakes and defects” to before 1348 in G. Villani.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the verb both for setting right, in the moral sense and for texts, and for guiding or governing, as in Dante's line on the land che 'l Soldan corregge (that the Sultan rules).^[8][9] Rebuking and punishing were part of the moral sense, and Zingarelli marks “punish” as obsolete.^[8][10] Correcting food and drink with another substance is already in the TLIO, and Soderini spoke of correcting wine.^[8][11]

In 1942 DELI records the sense of adding a substance to a drink or a fuel to change it, and corretto for a drink laced with something is recorded in 1931 in Gramsci: caffè corretto is coffee with a dash of spirits.^[2] Boerio had already listed Venetian acqua corèta in 1829.^[2]

Panzini judged corretto “well-mannered” to be modelled on English usage.^[2] Corrigendo, a minor held in a reformatory, comes from the Latin gerundive and is recorded in Venice in 1871.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – A doubtful first record in Patecchio, from Cremona.^[8]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses the verb for admonishing.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses the reflexive correggersi.^[2]
• Before 1348 – G. Villani uses it for removing faults.^[2][9]
• 1829 – Boerio records Venetian acqua corèta.^[2]
• 1871 – Corrigendo is recorded in Venice.^[2]
• 1931 – Gramsci uses corretto of a laced drink.^[2]
• 1942 – The sense “adding a substance to a drink or fuel” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To correct: to remove mistakes and flaws from something and so improve it: correggere una traduzione.^{[9][4][12][1]}
2. To mark a school exercise, pointing out the mistakes: correggere i compiti di matematica.^[9][4][1]
3. To rid oneself or others of a fault or bad habit, or to bring someone to see a mistake: se dico una cosa sbagliata, correggetemi.^[9][12][10]
4. To rebuke.^[9][10]
5. To treat or remedy a physical defect: correggere l'astigmatismo.^[9][4][10]
6. To soften or adjust: correggere un'opinione troppo dura.^[9][4][10]
7. To add another substance to a drink, food or fuel, to change its taste or properties: correggere il caffè con il brandy.^{[9][12][10][1]}
8. (agriculture) To improve a soil with additives.^[9][13]
9. (literary, archaic) To rule or govern.^[9][12][10]

Reflexive verb

1. correggersi: to correct oneself while speaking, or to mend one's ways: correggersi dal vizio del fumo.^[12][10][13]

Word family

• correggibile
• correggitore
• correttezza
• correttivo
• corretto
• correttore
• correzionale
• correzione
• corrigendo
• scorretto
• scorrettezza
• correggimento

Related words

• reggere
• Latin corrigo
• French corriger

Usage notes

Correggere is conjugated like reggere: past historic corressi, past participle corretto.^[1][4][10] Set phrases include correggere il tiro and correggere la rotta, to change one's course of action.^[9][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1121
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 334
12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana