creatore

Forms

creatore (feminine creatrice, masculine plural creatori, feminine plural creatrici)^[1] An old form is Old Italian criatore; northern texts also have Old Italian creador and Old Italian creatur.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin creātor (“begetter; creator; founder”).^[5][6][7][1] The Latin noun is formed from creō (“to create, make”) with the agent suffix -tor.^[1][8] According to de Vaan the verb first meant “to make grow”, and it goes back to Proto-Italic *krējā-, related to crēscō (“to grow”).^[9]

Körting finds the noun in popular form only in Old Occitan creaire and Old French creere; elsewhere it is a semi-learned word.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Cremonese Uguccione da Lodi, at the beginning of the 13th century, with the sense “he who brings something into being from nothing”, that is God.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was used of God, also as an adjective, in phrases for dying such as tornare al creatore, and of one who arouses feelings or thoughts.^[4] Dante's Purgatorio opposes it to creatura: Né creator né creatura mai… fu sanza amore “neither creator nor creature was ever without love”.^[11]

The modern sense “one who creates new things, originator” is used of art, science and fashion (creatore di moda, “fashion designer”).^[7][12][13] In mechanics creatore has named since 1956 a hob for cutting gear teeth.^[5][13]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses creatore of God.^[5][4]
• 1956 – Creatore is recorded for a gear-cutting hob.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That creates, able to produce from nothing: la forza creatrice della natura.^[7][12][2]
2. creative, gifted with creativity: uno spirito creatore.^[7][12][14]

Noun

1. (feminine creatrice) A creator, one who creates or originates something new: la creatrice di un marchio di successo.^[7][12][2]
2. (usually capitalised) The Creator, God: lodare il Creatore.^[7][12][13]
3. (mechanics) A hob, a worm-shaped cutter for cutting gear teeth.^[13][5]

Related words

• creare
• creatività
• creativo
• creato
• creatura
• creazionismo
• creazione
• Latin creātor

Usage notes

Andare al Creatore means “to die” and mandare al Creatore “to kill”;^[7][12][2] creatore di moda is a fashion designer.^[7][12][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ 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
13. ^ 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)
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse