detenere

Forms

detenere (first-person singular present detèngo, first-person singular past historic deténni or detènni, past participle detenùto, first-person singular future deterrò, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms are Old Italian ditenere and Old Italian detinere.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dētineō (“to hold back, keep”), remade in a semi-learned way on tenere.^[5][1][6] DEI calls it a learned recomposition, and Devoto points out that the Latin verb has the weakened vowel ⟨i⟩ of an inner syllable, replaced by the ⟨e⟩ of the Italian simple verb.^[7][8] The Latin verb is formed from dē- and teneō (“to hold”).^[9][10]

The same Latin verb gave Old French detenir, recorded in Wace (1160–1174), Catalan detenir, Spanish detener and Portuguese deter.^[11][9] The Latin simple verb is a stative present to the root Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[12]

The nouns detentore and detenzione are learned words from Late Latin dētentor and dētentiō, from the past participle of the Latin verb.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Roman Storie de Troia et de Roma (1252–1258), with the sense “to hold prisoner”.^[4] DELI dates the sense “to hold in possession, to rule” to Brunetto Latini's translations at the end of the 13th century, and “to keep in prison” to the Siena statutes of 1309.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the verb for keeping someone a prisoner or keeping him from leaving, for having something with oneself, for the legal holding of property without ownership, and for keeping away from something.^[4] A Perugian statute of 1342 speaks of detenere goods.^[11] Later writers used it for holding back or containing (Bartoli, 1550), and detenersi for lingering (Guidiccioni, before 1541).^[11]

The derivatives grew in the law: detenzione is recorded in 1356 in Florentine ordinances and in the sense of imprisonment in Machiavelli, detenuto as a noun for a prisoner before 1787, and detentivo “involving imprisonment” in 1900.^[5] The senses of ruling and preserving are obsolete.^[2][13] Today one holds a record, a title or a majority of shares, and the law distinguishes holding a thing from owning it.^[6][14]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Roman Storie de Troia et de Roma use detenere.^[4]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ditenitrice “holder”.^[5]
• 1309 – The Siena statutes have the sense “to keep in prison”.^[5]
• 1356 – Florentine ordinances use detenzione.^[5]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses detenzione for imprisonment.^[5]
• Before 1787 – Giovan Battista Roberti uses detenuto for a prisoner.^[5]
• 1900 – Detentivo appears in the title of a book by G. Leto.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold or possess, especially something won or acquired: detenere il titolo europeo, detenere la maggioranza.^{[13][10][6][15]}
2. (law) To have something in one's physical control without owning it, often illegally: detenere armi.^{[13][10][6][15]}
3. To hold in custody, to detain in prison, mostly in the passive: Il sospettato è detenuto in questura.^[13][10][15]
4. (obsolete) To rule, dominate.^[13][2]
5. (obsolete) To keep, preserve.^[13][2]

Word family

• detentivo
• detentore
• detenuto
• detenzione

Related words

• tenere
• French détenir
• Latin detineo

Usage notes

The verb is conjugated like tenere.^[10][6]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1266
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 20, 13
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana