Etymologically
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gestire

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Pronunciation

  • /d͡ʒesˈti.re/[1]

Forms

gestire (first-person singular present gestìsco, first-person singular past historic gestìi, past participle gestìto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

In the sense “to manage” it is a back-formation from gestione (“management”), modelled on pairs such as passione and patire.[2][3][4][5][1] Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from gestore (“manager”) instead.[6][7] DELI takes it to be the older learned verb for “to gesticulate”, Latin gestīre (see Usage notes), which took on the meaning of the nouns for manager and management, words of quite another origin.[8] GRADIT and the GDLI form it from gestus, the past participle of gerō (“to carry on, manage”), with the ending -ire.[9][10] Nocentini dates the new sense to the second half of the 19th century and ascribes it to the noun for management.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a condemnation: in 1877 Fanfani and Arlìa wrote that in Italian gestire means to make gestures, not to administer, and called the use a blunder.[8][9] DEI dates it from 1890.[3]

Semantic evolution

In 1919 Antonio Gramsci used it for directing a whole society, calling for a disciplined revolutionary vanguard able to gestire la società comunista (run communist society).[8][10] In the 20th century writers used it for running a business: Pirandello for a literary enterprise, Lorenzo Viani for a wine shop, Pavese for a lorry service.[10]

Today it is used for running an activity on one's own or someone else's account, for conducting a negotiation, and figuratively for handling one's time, strength or public image; in computing it is said of a system controlling the storage of and access to data.[9][6][7] The reflexive gestirsi means to organize one's own life sensibly.[6][4][5]

Timeline

  • 1834 – Gestore is recorded.[11]
  • 1877 – Fanfani and Arlìa condemn gestire “to administer”.[8]
  • 1890 – DEI's date for the verb in this sense.[3]
  • 1919 – Antonio Gramsci uses it for directing a society.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To manage, run or administer a business or activity, on one's own or another's account: Mio zio gestisce un piccolo albergo al mare.[9][6][4]
  2. To conduct or direct an undertaking: Sarà lei a gestire le trattative con i fornitori.[9][6][4]
  3. (figurative) To handle wisely, to dole out: Devi imparare a gestire meglio le tue energie.[9][6][7]
  4. (computing) To control the functions of a system, such as storage and access to data.[7]
  5. (reflexive gestirsi) To organize oneself sensibly: Con tre lavori, fa fatica a gestirsi.[6][4][5]

Word family

  • cogestire
  • gestibile
  • gestionale
  • gestione
  • gestore
  • gesto

Usage notes

A separate, literary gestire means “to gesticulate”: it is Latin gestīre, from gestus “gesture”, and is recorded before 1527 in Machiavelli (“Io lo veggo gestire”, I see him gesticulating).[8][9][10] DELI and DEI number it gestire¹, GRADIT gestire².[8][3][9] Manzoni has Ferrer “atteggiandosi e gestendo insieme” (striking attitudes and gesturing at once).[9]

Both verbs take -isc- in the present: gestisco, gestisci.[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1795
  4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ 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, p. 6, 710
  11. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier