diffinire

Forms

diffinire (first-person singular present diffinìsco, first-person singular past historic diffinìi, past participle diffinìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is an archaic form of definire.^[1][2][3] It is learned: it is borrowed from Late Latin diffinīre, the Late Latin form, beside classical dēfīnīre (“to bound, to define”).^[4][3][1] The LEI treats this as a side form of the Latin verb, found in the Thesaurus linguae Latinae.^[5] DEI cites diffīnītiō from Lactantius.^[6] Tommaseo notes that Latin wrote both forms and that the difference between them is uncertain.^[7]

The classical verb is formed dē- and fīniō (“to limit”).^[1] The same Latin verb gave Old French difinir and, about 1481, Middle French diffinir.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's earliest records of diffinire are in the Sienese statutes of Montagutolo (1280–1297) and in the Lucchese poet Inghilfredi (second half of the 13th century); Bono Giamboni has it in Florence before 1292.^[5] The sense is “to decide, establish by decree or sentence; to lay down as a rule”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century diffinire was the usual spelling in Tuscan statutes (Pisa 1304, Volterra 1336, Prato 1347) and in Boccaccio's Teseida (1339–41), while Bonvesin used it in Milan for settling a dispute or drawing up a contract.^[5] Tommaseo describes a judge or arbiter who diffinisce a question, and parties who settle their own case by a ruling or a compromise.^[7]

Writers kept diffinire until Lalli (1629); Sarpi wrote difinire (1619) and Giannone deffinir (1731–35), and definire has been the form since Pietro Verri, about 1797.^[5] DEI dates diffinire from the 14th to the 18th century, with derivatives such as diffinizione and diffinitivo.^[6]

Timeline

• 1280–1297 – The Sienese statutes of Montagutolo use diffinire.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it in Florence.^[5]
• Before 1315 – Bonvesin de la Riva uses it in Milan for settling a dispute.^[5]
• 1339–1341 – Boccaccio's Teseida has diffinire.^[5]
• 1629 – Lalli still writes diffinire.^[5]
• About 1797 – Pietro Verri writes definire.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (archaic) To define, in all the senses of definire.^[2][3][1]
2. (archaic) To settle a question or dispute by a ruling; to establish by decree.^[6][7][5]

Word family

• diffinizione
• diffinitivo
• diffinitore

Related words

• definire
• fine
• Latin dēfīniō

Usage notes

Dictionaries refer diffinire and its derivatives (diffinizione and the rest) to definire.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ 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)
4. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 716
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1297
7. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli