dinegare

Forms

dinegare (first-person singular present dinégo or dinègo or (rare) diniègo or (ditto) diniégo, first-person singular past historic dinegài, past participle dinegàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Forms in the TLIO include Old Italian denegare, Old Italian deneghare and Old Italian deneguare.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēnegō (“to refuse, deny firmly”), a semi-learned word known in Italian and the western Romance languages.^[3][1][4] The Latin verb is formed from dē- and negō (“to deny”).^[5][6] Devoto explains the first syllable as the influence of the Italian prefix di-.^[6]

The learned form denegare is the same Latin word, and GRADIT and Zingarelli list this verb only as its variant.^[7][8][9] Meyer-Lübke sets the Italian verb beside Old French denier and Spanish denegar, and the noun diniego beside deni and Old Occitan denec.^[10][11] The simple verb is formed from ne (“not”).^[1][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Storie de Troia e de Roma, a Roman text of 1252–1258, in the sense to refuse absolutely.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used it in law for refusing to appear in court to take an oath, for renouncing a faith, for withdrawing from something and for denying or disowning.^[2] Giovanni Villani writes of requests that li furono dinegate (“were refused to him”).^[13][14]

By the 19th century Tommaseo found it uncommon in speech but still alive, without all the senses of negare.^[14] Nievo uses diniegare for shaking one's head to say no.^[13][1] The modern dictionaries mark the word as archaic or literary.^[15][4][7]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Storie de Troia e de Roma use the verb.^[2]
• 14th century – DEI dates the verb and the derivatives dinegativo and dinegatore to this century.^[3]
• 16th century – Dinegazione is recorded.^[3]
• 17th century – DEI dates the noun diniego.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, archaic, literary) To refuse or deny: gli dinegarono ogni aiuto.^[4][15][1]
2. (intransitive, archaic, literary) To make a sign of refusal, as by shaking one's head.^[13][1]

Word family

• diniego

Related words

• denegare
• negare
• Latin dēnegō

Usage notes

The rare form diniegare, with present diniego, is also found.^[4][15][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1309
4. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 379
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier