disegnare

Forms

disegnare (first-person singular present diségno, first-person singular past historic disegnài, past participle disegnàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] There was also Old Italian desegnare, the form of Restoro d'Arezzo (1282) and of Perugian and Venetian texts.^[2][3] Later dialect forms include Venetian dessegnare (1660) and Neapolitan desegnare (before 1632).^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dēsignō (“to mark out; to represent”), the popular outcome of the Latin verb beside the learned doublet designare.^[4][5][1][3] The Latin verb is made of dē- and signō (“to mark”), from signum (“mark, sign”).^[6][1][7] De Vaan connects the noun with secō (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek-no- (“cut”), with a shift from “what is cut out, carved” to “sign”.^[8] Italian disegno “drawing” is a deverbal noun with no suffix.^[9]

Italian lent the verb to other languages: French dessiner (first recorded in 1529) and French dessin, Portuguese desenhar, Spanish deseñar (1535, Juan de Valdés), Friulian disegnâ and the Engadine form disegnar.^{[10][4][11][3][12]} The learned French désigner, Catalan designar and Portuguese designar come from the same Latin verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is desegnare in the Composizione del mondo of Restoro d'Arezzo (1282), with the sense “to represent figures with lines”: painters drawing the moon desegnano lo suo corpo retondo (“draw its body round”).^[9][2][13] The form disegnare appears in Dante's Vita Nuova (1293–1294), where he speaks of disegnare figure d'angeli (“drawing figures of angels”).^[9][13]

Semantic evolution

The figurative senses came early: “to describe in words” before 1292 in Bono Giamboni, and “to plan a work in the mind, to imagine” in a Volterra document of 1329.^[9] The TLIO records Old Italian uses for marking out the outline of a building with a furrow, for making the sign of the cross and for representing a figure in sculpture or relief.^[2] Until the 16th century the verb could also mean “to designate, appoint”, as in Boccaccio and Bernardo Segni.^[14][15]

The noun disegno meant a drawing before 1444 and a plan or intention before 1471.^[9] Under the influence of English to design, disegnare is now also used for technical design.^[14] Through French, Italian disegnare lies behind German dessinieren, and DIFIT lists English design as coming from the French verb.^[11]

Timeline

• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo writes desegnare and desegnatore.^[9][2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb for “to describe in words”.^[9]
• 1293–1294 – Dante uses disegnare in the Vita Nuova.^[9]
• 1329 – A Volterra document has the sense “to plan in the mind”.^[9]
• Before 1444 – Disegno “drawing” is recorded in Giovanni Morelli.^[9]
• 1529 – French designer “to draw” is first recorded.^[11]
• 1858 – Disegno di legge “bill” appears in the title of a pamphlet.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To draw: to represent with lines and marks on a surface, with pencil, pen, charcoal or on a computer; also absolutely: Da piccolo disegnava cavalli su ogni quaderno.^[16][17][15]
2. (by extension) To trace or form a shape: Le rondini disegnavano cerchi sopra il campanile.^[16][17]
3. (figurative) To outline, to devise in its essential lines; to design a technical project.^[16][14]
4. (figurative) To describe, portray in words.^[16][17][15]
5. (literary, uncommon) To intend, plan (with di and an infinitive).^[16][15][18]
6. (obsolete) To designate, to appoint.^[16][15][18]
7. (disegnarsi) To appear in outline, to take shape (also figurative).^[15][5]

Word family

• disegno
• disegnatore
• ridisegnare
• disegnativo

Related words

• designare
• segnare
• segno
• Latin dēsignō
• French dessiner

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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 1448
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1335
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, 649
14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
17. ^ 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
18. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana