disdire

Forms

disdire (first-person singular present disdìco, first-person singular past historic disdìssi, past participle disdétto, first-person singular imperfect disdicévo, auxiliary avére)^[1] The old infinitive was disdicere, and northern texts of the period have Old Italian desdire and Old Italian desdir.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian dis- + dire (“to say”), with the prefix that reverses the meaning of the verb.^{[5][6][7][8][1]}

The noun disdetta, in the sense “bad luck”, follows Spanish desdicha (“misfortune”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Pier della Vigna, before 1249, in Tuscan, where the verb means to say no to a request, to refuse.^[4] DELI's first date, before 1264 in Percivalle Doria, is for the sense “to deny what one has said, to retract”.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the verb for refusing a request, for contradicting oneself or another, for dissuading someone, and for giving up a pledge or a contract.^[4] The pairing dire e disdire, to say and unsay, is old: Garzo wrote “Dire per disdire, / megl'è a non dire” (“Better not to say than to say only to unsay”).^[9] In Dante the reflexive disdirsi means to deny having done something.^[8][3]

The legal sense, to give notice that one means to end a contract, is recorded from 1581, in Filippo Sassetti, and the noun disdetta had this sense before 1527, in Machiavelli.^[5] In modern use the verb is above all the cancelling of an appointment, a booking or a subscription.^[7][2] Disdetta itself, from before 1321 in Dante, also came to mean “bad luck” (disditta before 1523, disdetta in 1545).^[5]

Timeline

• Before 1249 – Pier della Vigna uses disdire for refusing a request.^[4]
• Before 1264 – Percivalle Doria uses it for retracting one's words.^[5][9]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the noun disdetta.^[5]
• Before 1527 – Disdetta is notice to end a contract, in Machiavelli.^[5]
• 1545 – Disdetta “bad luck” appears in Pietro Aretino.^[5]
• 1581 – Filippo Sassetti uses disdire for ending a contract.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cancel an appointment, a booking or another commitment: Ho disdetto la cena di sabato.^[7][2][8]
2. (law) To end a contract by giving notice: disdire l'affitto.^[7][10][11]
3. To retract what one has said, to take back one's words.^[7][2][8]
4. To deny what others say; to refute or contradict.^[7][8][3]
5. (literary) To forbid, to deny someone something.^[7][2][11]
6. (archaic) To refuse.^[7][3]
7. (reflexive, rare) disdirsi: to contradict oneself.^[2][11][3]

Word family

• disdetta

Related words

• dire
• contraddire
• ridire

Usage notes

Disdire is conjugated like dire (disdico, past participle disdetto).^[3][1] GRADIT lists a second disdire, literary, “to be unbecoming, not to suit”, used only in the third person, recorded from the first half of the 13th century and taken from Latin dēdecēre “to be unseemly”, reshaped after this verb or after addirsi.^{[7][6][3][12]}

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 636