Etymologically
Log in

dimenticare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 20:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /di.men.tiˈka.re/[1]

Forms

dimenticare (first-person singular present diméntico, first-person singular past historic dimenticài, past participle dimenticàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms include Old Italian dementicare, Old Italian dementegare, Old Italian domenticare and Old Italian dismenticare.[2][3] Dismenticare is still used in some regions.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin dēmenticāre (“to go out of one's mind”), a verb of the Latin glosses.[6][7][8][3] DELI and Devoto derive it from dēmenticus (“out of one's mind”), made of dē- and Latin mēns (“mind”);[6][9][10] Nocentini from dēmentīre (“to lose one's reason”).[7] The LEI notes that the sense “to go mad” came first and has not survived, so that the Italian verb continues only the later sense “not to remember”.[3] Wiktionary starts from Vulgar Latin *dismenticāre with another prefix.[1]

The verb belongs to Italy: DEI finds it in the Italian area except the far South, and the LEI adds an Engadine form.[11][3] Dalmatian dementicur and Sardinian ismenticare were taken from Italian.[1] The Latin noun mēns goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mn̥-ti- (“thought, mind”).[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Storie de Troja et de Roma, written in Roman dialect between 1252 and 1258.[2] The LEI finds dementicare in a Tuscan translation of Albertano da Brescia of 1268, and dimenticare in Brunetto Latini about 1260–1261.[3] DELI's first date is Bono Giamboni, before 1292, in the sense “to lose the memory of things”.[6][13]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had most of the modern senses: “to forgive” (14th century, Bible translations), “to leave out, not mention” (before 1342, Cavalca) and “to leave an object behind” (1353, Boccaccio).[6] The TLIO adds “to neglect someone”, “to give up a custom” and “to fail to do something”.[2] Cecco Angiolieri writes that poverty had made him almost forget his lady's name: “'l nome ho già quasi dimenticato”.[13]

Dimenticanza “forgetfulness” is recorded in Bono Giamboni, dimentico “forgetful” in Giordano da Pisa (1303–1306), and the jocular dimenticatoio, the imaginary place where forgotten things end up, before 1565 in Varchi.[6] Indimenticabile dates from the 18th century;[7][6] DELI thinks dimenticabile was drawn from it.[7][6] Tommaseo distinguished dimenticare, a more deliberate forgetting or neglect, from the pronominal dimenticarsi, which is often involuntary.[14]

Timeline

  • 1252–1258 – The verb appears in the Roman Storie de Troja et de Roma.[2]
  • c. 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses dimenticare.[3]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb and dimenticanza.[6]
  • 1303–1306 – Dimentico “forgetful” is recorded in Giordano da Pisa.[6]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for leaving something behind.[6]
  • Before 1565 – Dimenticatoio appears in Varchi.[6]
  • 18th century – Indimenticabile is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To forget, to lose the memory of something or someone; with di and an infinitive or che: Ho dimenticato il titolo di quel film, Non dimenticare di chiudere il gas.[8][15][10][16]
  2. To neglect, to leave someone without care or affection: Con gli anni ha dimenticato i vecchi amici.[8][15][16]
  3. To overlook, to forgive: Cerchiamo di dimenticare quello che è successo.[8][16][4]
  4. To leave something somewhere by mistake: Ho dimenticato l'ombrello in treno.[8][15][10]
  5. dimenticarsi (di): not to remember, to forget: Mi sono dimenticata del compleanno di mia sorella.[15][16][5]

Word family

  • dimenticanza
  • dimentico
  • dimenticatoio
  • indimenticabile
  • dimenticabile
  • dimenticone

Usage notes

The pronominal dimenticarsi takes essere; it can have a direct object (mi sono dimenticato il libro) or di.[16][10] The synonym scordare is more colloquial, obliare literary.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 982
  4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 465
  14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  15. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  16. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli