corridore

Forms

corridore m or f by sense (plural corridori)^[1] The older Tuscan form is Old Italian corritore.^[2] Old forms also include Old Italian coredore and Old Italian curriduri.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *curritor, an agent noun formed on currō (“to run”), which replaced classical Latin cursor.^[4][5][2][6] The /d/ of the standard form comes from the northern dialects, where /t/ between vowels was softened; the Tuscan form was Old Italian corritore.^[2][6][7] DEI, GRADIT and the GDLI describe the word as a northern derivative of correre, with the suffix -dore, the northern variant of -tore.^[8][7][9]

Latin currō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kers- (“to run”); de Vaan relates it to Gaulish *karros, the source of Latin carrus.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Tuscan Ritmo laurenziano of the late 12th century, where the word is an adjective meaning “fit for running, fast”.^[12][3][9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was a runner of any kind, also a horse; a mounted soldier sent ahead of an army to scout and raid (Dante's Corridor vidi per la terra vostra); a courier; and a walkway inside a fortification.^[3][13] Matteo Villani, before 1363, uses it for the runners of the palio.^[12][14] In poetry it long meant a racehorse or any horse, as in Manzoni's la furia / de' corridor fumanti.^[7][5]

The modern sense, a competitor in a race on foot, by bicycle, car or motorcycle, is recorded from 1927, when corridore su strada rendered French routier.^[12] In baseball it is the attacking player who runs for a base, and in the old Florentine calcio each of the fifteen forwards.^[7][13]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano has the first record.^[12][3]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for a runner in the palio.^[12]
• Before 1363 – Corridore names a walkway along a city wall.^[15]
• 1537–1540 – Corridore “corridor” is recorded.^[7]
• 1590s – English borrows corridor through French.^[10]
• 1927 – Corridore is used for a competitor in a race.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fit for running, fast; of birds, unable to fly but strong runners: cavallo corridore.^[7][16][13]

Noun

1. A runner or racer: a competitor in a race on foot, by bicycle, car or motorcycle; feminine corridora or corritrice.^[7][5][2]
2. (baseball) A baserunner.^[7][5][17]
3. (literary) A racehorse; a horse.^[7][5][2]
4. (historical) A mounted soldier who went ahead of an army to scout or raid.^[7][2][17]
5. (nautical) A length of rope passed through the deadeyes to tighten the standing rigging.^[7][5][18]
6. (zoology, dated) A ratite, a flightless running bird.^[7][16][13]

Related words

• corridoio
• correre
• corsiero
• French corridor

Usage notes

Corridore is also an old and regional form of corridoio, “corridor”, recorded from 1537–40 and now obsolete.^[7][13][14] Before 1363 it named a passage along a city wall between towers.^[15] In this sense it was borrowed as French corridor (1611), first a covered way in a fortification.^[15] French passed it on as corridor (1590s) and German Korridor.^[15][10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1123
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. ^ 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
13. ^ 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)
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli