corrotto

Forms

corrotto (feminine corrotta, masculine plural corrotti, feminine plural corrotte, superlative corrottissimo)^[1] An old variant is Old Italian corrutto.^[2][3] The TLIO lists many old spellings, among them Old Italian corropto, Old Italian corrupto and Old Italian coroto.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Italian corrompere (“to corrupt”): its past participle, used as an adjective and as a noun.^[5][6][7][2] DEI treats it as an adaptation of the participle Latin corruptus, and Wiktionary also derives it from that form.^[8][1] The Latin word is the participle of corrumpō (“to spoil, to corrupt”).^[9][1]

The verb corrompere is taken from the same Latin verb, which is formed with con- on rumpō (“to break”).^[10][5] Its stressed vowel was remodelled on rompere.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma (1252–1258).^[4] In Old Italian the word already meant morally depraved, bribed into failing one's duty, physically damaged or decomposed, and of air or water, made unhealthy.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used corrotto first of all for decay: Boccaccio describes the stench of the dead, corpi corrotti, and Dante, in the Purgatorio, speaks of a love that runs to the good con ordine corrotto.^[11][12] An old adverbial use meant “corruptly, incorrectly”, as in a Bible prologue blaming scribes who write corrotto.^[12]

The verb behind it developed the same range: corrompere meant “to cause to decay” in 1282 (Ristoro), “to bribe” in 1310–1312 (Dino Compagni) and “to deprave” before 1328 (Lapo Gianni).^[10] In philology a passo corrotto is a passage spoiled in the manuscript tradition beyond easy repair.^[13][7] As a noun, un corrotto is a person who has taken bribes.^[13][6]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – Corrotto appears in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma.^[4]
• 1282 – Ristoro uses corrompere for “to cause to decay”.^[10]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses the reflexive corrompersi “to go bad”.^[10]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses corrompere for “to bribe”.^[10]
• Before 1328 – Lapo Gianni uses corrompere for “to deprave”.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. corrupt, morally depraved: una classe politica corrotta.^[13][6][14]
2. Of an official or witness: induced by money or favours to fail in his duty, bribed.^[13][6][7]
3. Altered from its original purity, debased: un dialetto corrotto.^[13][6][14]
4. (philology) Of a passage in a manuscript: damaged so that it is hard to restore.^[13][7]
5. (literary) rotten, decomposed, and of air: polluted, foul.^[13][6][7]

Noun

1. A corrupt person, one who has taken bribes.^[13][6][14]

Word family

• corrottamente
• incorrotto

Related words

• corrompere
• corruzione
• corruttela
• corruttibile

Usage notes

The obsolete noun corrotto “funeral lament, ritual weeping over the dead” has a separate source: GRADIT and Zingarelli date it before 1250, and the TLIO's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini.^[13][2][4] Its origin is uncertain: GRADIT, Zingarelli and Treccani suggest the Latin phrase cor ruptum “broken heart”, while GDLI derives it from Medieval Latin corruptum “grief”, comparing Old French corrot.^{[13][2][7][11]} Iacopone writes E eo comenzo el corrotto (“And I begin the lament”).^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1124
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c 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 Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse