Etymologically
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giocatore

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /d͡ʒo.kaˈto.re/[1]

Forms

giocatore m (plural giocatori, feminine giocatrice)[1] Old Italian had giucatore; the literary form is giuocatore.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Italian giocare + -tore, the agent noun of the verb “to play”.[5][1][6][7] Compare French joueur, Spanish jugador, Portuguese jogador and Romanian jucător.[1]

The verb giocare continues Latin iocō (“to jest, to play”), a variant of iocor (“to jest”), from iocus (“jest, game”); it is pan-Romance.[7] The old form with ⟨u⟩ was replaced by ⟨o⟩: in 1726 Anton Maria Salvini remarked that the good old writers wrote ⟨giucatore⟩ where his contemporaries wrote ⟨giocatore⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, for one who plays a game for amusement.[2][5] After a meal some guests play at dice, at tables or at chess, and when a dispute arises among the giucatori the duke settles it.[8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “one who plays sports or athletic games, for passion or as a trade” is recorded before 1364 in Zanobi da Strata.[2] Boccaccio's Ser Ciappelletto was a great giucatore and a user of loaded dice, which shows the sense “gambler”, still current.[4][5] Later the word took in the speculator on the stock exchange (giocatore di borsa) and, figuratively, a cunning, unscrupulous person.[9][5][10]

In modern use it is above all the player of a team game, especially football.[11][6]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – Giucatore appears in the Novellino.[2][5]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio calls Ser Ciappelletto a gambler.[4]
  • Before 1364 – Zanobi da Strata uses it for a player of athletic games.[2]
  • 1726 – Salvini contrasts the old giucatore with giocatore.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A player: one who takes part in a game for amusement: Per questa partita servono almeno quattro giocatori.[5][3][6]
  2. One who plays a sport as an amateur or a professional: un giocatore di pallavolo.[5][3][11]
  3. A gambler, one who plays games of chance habitually: È diventato un giocatore incallito.[5][6][11]
  4. (figurative, rare) A cunning, unscrupulous person.[5][10]

Word family

  • giocatrice

Usage notes

The feminine is giocatrice; the popular giocatora is now disused.[3][10][1] A giocatore di borsa is a stock-market speculator.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 793
  9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana