dettare

Forms

dettare (first-person singular present dètto or (traditional) détto, first-person singular past historic dettài, past participle dettàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The old form dittare is archaic.^[2][3][4] Old Italian also wrote dictare and ditare.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dĭctō (“to say repeatedly; to dictate”), the frequentative of dīcō (“to say”).^[6][7][8][1] The LEI derives the ⟨e⟩ forms from the Latin short ⟨ĭ⟩, and old dittare from forms influenced by the verb for “to say”.^[9] The Latin verb, a word of legal language, continues in Sardinian dittare, Romansh dettar, Old French ditier (“to compose”), Old Occitan dechar and Catalan dictar;^[9][10][7] French dicter and Spanish dictar are learned loans, and German dichten (“to write poetry”) was borrowed from it.^[7][11]

De Vaan notes that dictātor is older than the verb, which was formed later; the verb for “to say” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *deiḱ- (“to show”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma (1252–1258).^[5] Bono Giamboni, before 1292, has the sense “to say word by word what another writes”: many say that Mark's gospel was dictated by Peter.^[6][13]

Semantic evolution

In medieval rhetoric dettare was the art of composing letters and prose: Giovanni Villani praises Brunetto Latini as a master in bene sapere dire, come in bene dittare.^[14][5] Dante uses it for the inner voice of Love, a quel modo / ch'e' ditta dentro vo significando (“as he dictates within, I go on expressing it”).^[14][15] The sense “to prescribe, impose” is dated from Benedetto Varchi, before 1565,^[6] and the verb also meant to teach from a university chair.^[8][4]

Derivatives followed: dettato “way of writing” (before 1257, Bonagiunta) and “text written from dictation” (1870, Carlo Dossi), dettame “precept” (1569) and dettatura (before 1589, Salviati, “act of dictating”, 1636, Galileo).^[6] In football commentary the verb now means calling for a pass by one's run.^[8][2]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma has the verb.^[5]
• Before 1257 – Bonagiunta uses dettato.^[6]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for dictating.^[6]
• Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses it for “to impose”.^[6]
• 1569 – Dettame is recorded.^[6]
• 1636 – Galileo uses dettatura for the act of dictating.^[6]
• 1870 – Carlo Dossi uses dettato for a dictation text.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To dictate: to say aloud, slowly and clearly, what another is to write: La segretaria scrive ciò che il capo detta.^[8][2][3]
2. To impose, prescribe;^[8][2][4] dettare legge, to lay down the law.^[8][2][4]
3. (figurative) To suggest, advise, inspire.^[8][2][16]
4. (football) To call for a pass by one's position or run.^[8][2]
5. (literary) To compose, write.^[8][2][16]
6. (archaic) To teach from a chair.^[8][2][4]

Word family

• dettame
• dettato
• dettatura
• dettatore
• indettare
• dettazione

Related words

• dittatore
• dire
• German dichten

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 20, 307
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1268
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. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 289
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana