giocare

Forms

giocare (first-person singular present giòco, first-person singular past historic giocài, past participle giocàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The literary form is giuocare, remade on giuoco;^[2][3][4] Old Italian also had giucare.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *iocāre (“to joke; to play”), an active form of classical Latin iocor (“to joke, jest”), derived from iocus (“joke, jest”), which became Italian gioco.^[5][6][2][1] Wiktionary notes that within Italian the verb can also be analysed as the noun with the ending -are.^[1]

The verb is found throughout Romance: French jouer, Occitan jogar, Catalan jogar, Spanish jugar, Portuguese jogar, Sardinian giogare and Romanian juca, which also means “to dance”.^[6][7]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *joko- and Proto-Indo-European *iok-o- (“word, utterance”).^[8] De Vaan compares Umbrian iuka (“words, prayers”), Welsh iaith (“language”) and Old High German jehan (“to say, declare”).^[8] In Italian the Latin /j/ became the sound written ⟨gi⟩, and the stressed ⟨o⟩ could become ⟨uo⟩, as in ⟨giuoco⟩.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni and the Fiore, before 1292, both for amusing oneself with pleasant activities and for taking part in a contest or match.^[10][5]

Semantic evolution

Gambling senses came early: Cecco Angiolieri (before 1313) uses the verb for betting, Domenico Cavalca (before 1342) for losing at play, and Alessandro Piccolomini (1536) for staking money on chance.^[10] Boccaccio (1339–1340) used it for tricking or cheating someone, and Machiavelli (before 1527) for putting something at risk.^[10] The Decameron lists giucare with hunting, fishing and riding among a gentleman's pastimes, and Giovanni Villani tells of a man who played three chessboards at once against the best players of Florence.^[11]

The use for a mechanical part that moves freely inside another is recorded in Girolamo Ruscelli before 1566.^[10] In hunting it is said of birds that answer a decoy.^[3] Derivatives include giocatore (13th century), giocherellare (1843) and giocherellone (1946).^[6]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni and the Fiore use giocare.^[10]
• Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses it for betting.^[10]
• 1339–1340 – Boccaccio uses it for deceiving someone.^[10]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for losing at play.^[10]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for risking something.^[10]
• 1536 – Alessandro Piccolomini uses it for gambling money.^[10]
• Before 1566 – Girolamo Ruscelli uses it of a moving mechanical part.^[10]
• 1843 – Giocherellare is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To play a game, for fun or to pass the time: Dopo cena giochiamo a carte.^[5][12][1]
2. To toy, fiddle with something.^[5][12]
3. To play a sport; to be a member of a team or play in a given role; to play a match: Gioca in difesa da tre stagioni.^[5][2][1]
4. To gamble, bet money on chance: Ha giocato tutto sul rosso.^[5][9][1]
5. (figurative) To exploit, play on something, with su.^[5][9]
6. Transitively, to play a card or a piece; to stake, risk: giocarsi la carriera.^[1][3][5]
7. (figurative) To trick, deceive someone.^[1][10]
8. (mechanics) Of a part, to have play.^[1][10]
9. (figurative) To count, matter: Nella scelta gioca molto il prezzo.^[1]

Word family

• giocatore
• giocata
• giocattolo
• giocherellare
• giocherellone
• rigiocare
• giocabile

Related words

• giocolare
• gioco
• Latin iocus

Usage notes

The forms with ⟨uo⟩ (giuoco, giuocare) are now literary and rare.^[9][3] Set phrases include giocare con il fuoco “to play with fire”, giocare a carte scoperte “to act openly” and a che gioco giochiamo?, said to someone suspected of a trick.^[9][5] The proverb fortunato in amor non giochi a carte warns the lucky in love off gambling.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1811
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier