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dimostrare

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Pronunciation

  • /di.mosˈtra.re/[1]

Forms

dimostrare (first-person singular present dimóstro, first-person singular past historic dimostrài, past participle dimostràto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms include Old Italian demostrare, Old Italian demonstrare, Old Italian demustrare and Old Italian dismostrare.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dēmōnstrō (“to point out, show; to prove”), from mōnstrō (“to show”) with the prefix dē-.[5][6][7][1] Nocentini derives the simple verb from mōnstrum (“sign; portent”), the source of mostro.[6] The verb continues in Friulian dimostrâ, Old French demustrer, Old Occitan demostrar, Catalan demostrar and Spanish demostrar.[4][6]

The sources disagree on the route.[4][2][8] Meyer-Lübke and Faré took the verb for a learned word, and it has no place in the REW; the GDLI and DEI call it semi-learned, and Zingarelli learned.[4][2][9][8] The LEI, after Wartburg and Cortelazzo, treats the Italian verb as a popular word, set apart from the learned Old Italian demonstrare that keeps the ⟨n⟩, since in its form it does not differ from the simple mostrare.[4] Devoto saw in it the Latin verb remade on the simple verb with the prefix di-.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Iacopo Mostacci, in the first half of the 13th century;[3][5][7] DELI's first date is Iacopo d'Aquino, at the beginning of the 13th century, in the sense “to show openly a state, a quality or a feeling”.[3][5][7] Iacopo d'Aquino writes “Ma non ch'eo già pertanto / dimostri la cagione / de la mia gioi” (but not that I therefore show the cause of my joy).[2]

Semantic evolution

Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, has the senses “to prove the truth of a statement or doctrine” and “to explain, teach”, and Dante the reflexive “to show oneself, prove to be”.[5] The TLIO adds an old sense “to appear in person”.[3] The noun dimostrazione is in Dante (1304–1308) for a proof, and the grammatical dimostrativo before 1332.[5]

In the 19th century dimostrazione took the sense “public demonstration” (1839, in the Milanese press), and Fanfani and Arlìa complained in 1877 of the crowds that went shouting and whistling under officials' windows;[5] dimostrante, a demonstrator, is recorded in 1867.[5] The verb itself took the intransitive sense “to demonstrate, take part in a demonstration” in the 20th century: Migliorini dates it to 1945.[5][11][9] The formula come volevasi dimostrare closes a proof, and is used ironically of an expected result.[7][12][13]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Iacopo d'Aquino uses dimostrare “to show openly”.[5]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “to prove” and “to explain”.[5]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses the reflexive “to show oneself”.[5]
  • 1839 – Dimostrazione “public demonstration” appears in the Milanese press.[5]
  • 1867 – Dimostrante “demonstrator” is recorded.[5]
  • 1945 – The intransitive sense “to demonstrate” is recorded.[5][11]
  • 1963 – Dimostratore “product demonstrator” is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To show, to display a feeling, quality or condition clearly: Ha dimostrato molto coraggio in quella situazione.[7][14][11]
  2. To look (a given age): Ha sessant'anni ma ne dimostra molti meno.[7][8][12]
  3. To prove the truth of a statement by reasoning or evidence: Lo studente ha dimostrato il teorema alla lavagna.[7][14][11]
  4. Of a thing, to be proof of: Questi dati dimostrano che il piano funziona.[7][11][8]
  5. To explain or illustrate, especially by showing how something works: La commessa ci ha dimostrato come si usa il robot.[7][14][11]
  6. (intransitive) To demonstrate, to take part in a public demonstration: Migliaia di persone hanno dimostrato davanti al parlamento.[7][14][11]
  7. (reflexive, dimostrarsi) To prove to be, show oneself: La scelta si è dimostrata giusta.[14][11][8]

Word family

  • dimostrazione
  • dimostrativo
  • dimostrabile
  • dimostrabilità
  • dimostrante
  • dimostratore

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  4. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 1007
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1307
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ 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