dibattere

Forms

dibattere (first-person singular present dibàtto, first-person singular past historic dibattéi, past participle dibattùto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

DELI, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli give it as inherited from Latin dēbattuō (“to beat down”), a compound of dē- and battuō (“to beat”),^[2][3][4][5] recorded in Petronius.^[6][7] Nocentini calls it a Romance formation, *debattĕre.^[8] The same word is French débattre, Occitan debatre, Catalan debatre, Spanish debatir and Portuguese debater.^[8] The French verb meant “to shake” from the 11th century and “to discuss” from the 13th.^[6][5]

GRADIT and Treccani instead treat it as formed from Italian di- + battere within Italian,^[9][10] and Devoto took it from French, crossed with the native verb for “to beat”.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Guido Guinizzelli, before 1276, where it means to hurl someone violently to the ground.^[12][13] Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses it for “to shake quickly”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Old Italian verb covered violent, disordered movement: to beat or strike, to drive away, to flap wings or blink, and in recipes to beat ingredients together; in accounts it meant to strike a sum off.^[12][5] Dante's damned souls cangiar colore e dibattero i denti (“changed colour and chattered their teeth”).^[10] Cennini and Vasari use it for beating egg into the tempera for painting.^[14] The reflexive “to struggle” is recorded in 1304, in Giordano da Pisa, and “to discuss a question” before 1348, in Giovanni Villani.^[2]

The sense of discussion is now the main one, while “to shake” is literary or rare.^[9][3] Dibattimento “discussion” is recorded at the end of the 13th century, and as the public stage of a criminal trial from Colletta (before 1831); dibattito dates from the 14th century and dibattimentale from 1950.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1276 – Guido Guinizzelli has the verb.^[12]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “to shake quickly”.^[2]
• Late 13th century – Dibattimento appears in a translation from Brunetto Latini.^[2]
• 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses the reflexive “to struggle”.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “to discuss”.^[2]
• Before 1831 – Pietro Colletta uses dibattimento for a trial hearing.^[2]
• 1950 – Dibattimentale is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To debate, to examine a question thoroughly from every side: In assemblea si è dibattuto a lungo il nuovo statuto.^[9][3][4]
2. (intransitive) To argue together, discuss.^[9]
3. (literary, rare) To shake, to flap.^[9][3][15]
4. (figurative, rare) To torment, afflict.^[9][3][4]
5. (reflexive, dibattersi) To struggle, thrash about;^[3][15][4] (figurative) to be torn between opposite courses: Si dibatteva tra restare e partire.^[3][15][4]

Word family

• dibattimento
• dibattito
• dibattuto
• dibattimentale
• dibattitore

Related words

• battere
• French débattre

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1287
7. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 139
12. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 342
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse