giuramento

Forms

giuramento m (plural giuramenti)^[1] An old form is iuramento.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin iūrāmentum (“oath”), formed from iūrō (“to swear”) with the suffix -mentum.^{[4][5][6][7][1]} DEI calls it a learned word and GDLI a semi-learned one; the Latin noun is first found in Tertullian.^[8][9] Wiktionary calls it inherited, and Zingarelli sees it formed on the pattern of sacrāmentum.^[1][2] By surface analysis it is giurare + -mento.^[1]

The word is pan-Romance: French jurement, Old Occitan juramen, Catalan jurament, Spanish juramento, Portuguese juramento and Logudorese guramentu.^[10][11][8] Outside Italy especially it met the outcomes of the Latin word for a sacrament: the usual French word for an oath is French serment, from that word, while the French cognate came to mean a curse as well.^[8][11] Tommaseo notes that the classical Latin word for an oath was Latin iūsiūrandum and that iūrāmentum is found in Jerome and Ammianus.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date the word to the second half of the 13th century, Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti to the 13th;^{[4][5][6][2][13]} DELI's first dated record is in Domenico Cavalca (before 1342), with the sense “the act of swearing”.^{[4][5][6][2][13]} Cavalca discusses the faults of swearing: molte cose sono reprensibili nel giuramento “many things are blameworthy in an oath”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the religious sense of calling God to witness the truth of a statement or the keeping of a promise.^[14][15] Legal and moral writers distinguish the giuramento assertorio, which affirms a fact, from the giuramento promissorio, which binds a promise, as at taking a public office.^[15][14] Tommaseo set it apart from giuro as the more solemn religious, judicial or political act.^[12]

In civil procedure the oath became a means of proof, the giuramento decisorio and suppletorio.^[2][5] Other set phrases are giuramento militare, giuramento di Ippocrate for physicians, and the ironic giuramento di marinaio, a promise soon broken.^[2][5][3] In a weaker sense it is a firm resolution made to oneself.^[6][16]

Timeline

• 1250–1300 – Giuramento is first recorded.^[4][5]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses the word in his moral writings.^[13][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. oath: a solemn declaration or promise made before God, an authority, other people or oneself: Ha mantenuto il giuramento fino all’ultimo.^[5][6][15]
2. A firm resolution: fare giuramento di, to resolve firmly to do something.^[6][16][5]
3. (law) A formal statement in court that what one says is true, used as a means of proof;^[2][6][5] sotto giuramento, under oath.^[2][6][5]
4. The ceremony of swearing in, as the giuramento militare of new soldiers.^[3][2]

Related words

• giurare
• spergiuro
• sacramento
• Latin iūrāmentum
• French jurement

Usage notes

The usual verbs are prestare or fare giuramento (to take an oath) and sciogliere da un giuramento (to release from it).^[5][6] Falso giuramento is perjury, spergiuro.^[5][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1823
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 894
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana