disdegnare

Forms

disdegnare (first-person singular present disdégno, first-person singular past historic disdegnài, past participle disdegnàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *disdignāre (“to scorn”), a reshaping of Latin dēdignor (“to disdain”) with the stronger prefix dis-.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin verb is parasynthetic, built on dignus (“worthy”).^[2][1]

The Latin form is found in Italy and in Gallo-Romance: French dédaigner and Old Occitan desdenhar.^[7] The Spanish verb desdeñar is probably a loan from French, as is desdén from dédain.^[8] The shorter sdegnare is the same word.^[8][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the early 13th century in Paganino da Serezano, in the sense to regard with scorn.^[2][11] The reflexive “to be indignant” follows in Bonagiunta, before 1257.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used it for rejecting and despising something, for refusing to do something, for losing interest in a person or thing, and also for lowering the worth of someone.^[12] In the last canto of the Paradiso Dante tells the Virgin that her maker non disdegnò di farsi sua fattura (“did not disdain to become her creature”).^[11]

Petrarch has Se non che forse Apollo si disdegna, and the reflexive sense “to become angry” is now literary.^[13][14][15] In modern Italian the verb means to scorn or reject, and is mostly used negatively, non disdegnare, for not turning down something one enjoys.^[4][16][15]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Paganino da Serezano uses the verb.^[2]
• Before 1257 – Bonagiunta uses the reflexive.^[2]
• Before 1276 – Guinizelli uses disdegnoso.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone uses the noun disdegno.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To consider unworthy of oneself; to disdain or scorn: disdegnava i complimenti dei cortigiani.^[4][16][5]
2. (transitive, in negative sentences) Not to refuse, to enjoy: non disdegna un buon caffè.^[4][16][15]
3. (pronominal, literary) To become indignant.^[16][5][13]

Word family

• disdegno
• disdegnoso
• disdegnamento
• disdegnanza
• disdegnatore
• disdegnevole

Related words

• sdegnare
• degnare
• Latin dēdignor
• French dédaigner

Usage notes

The old form desdegnare is also recorded.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1334
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 366
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ 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