governatore

Forms

governatore m (plural governatori, feminine governatrice)^[1] Older forms include Old Italian governadore, ghovernatore, gubernatore and northern governaor.^[2][3]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Latin gubernātor (“helmsman, pilot”), the agent noun of gubernō (“to steer; to govern”), and stands beside governare.^{[4][5][6][7][1][8]} Tommaseo treats it as the verbal noun of that verb.^[9] The Romance outcomes are Old Occitan governaire, French gouverneur, Spanish gobernador and Portuguese governador; except in Provençal they took only the transferred sense “governor”, while the helmsman came to be called timoniere or pilota.^[10]

The Latin verb is borrowed from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer”), with both its nautical and its political sense.^[8][11][12] The Italian Wikizionario compares κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “helmsman”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of Albertano da Brescia (1275).^[2] Its earliest senses are a steersman, a person who directs or disposes of something (God, in many texts), and a person who exercises power over a community.^[2] DELI's first date is a Volterra document of 1322 speaking of the governatori del Commune, and Andrea Simintendi (before 1333) uses the word for a high official ruling a territory for the central power.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for a guardian or tutor of a minor and for a breeder of animals.^[2] Matteo Villani writes of the governatori del Comune di Firenze.^[9] The sense “tutor of a prince” survives in the modern dictionaries as historical.^[5][7] In the Venetian Republic a governatore was a nobleman in command of a ship.^[5]

The title of the head of a large financial institution, as in governatore della Banca d'Italia, is dated 1869.^[13] Under Fascism the governatore ruled the governatorato of Rome (from 1925).^[13][14] The word is also used for the head of each US state,^[5][6] and since the 1990s journalists use it for the directly elected president of an Italian region.^[15][6] English borrowed it as the rare governator (1522), and German as Governatore (1838).^[16]

Timeline

• 1275 – The Florentine Albertano volgarizzato gives the first record.^[2]
• 1322 – A Volterra document names the governatori del Commune.^[13]
• Before 1333 – Andrea Simintendi uses the word for a high state official.^[13]
• 1522 – English governator is recorded.^[16]
• 1838 – German Governatore is recorded.^[16]
• 1869 – The sense “head of a financial institution” is recorded.^[13]
• 1925 – The governatore of Rome replaces the mayor.^[13]
• 1999 – Governatore is used of the president of the Lazio region.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (uncommon) A person who governs, a ruler.^[5][7][6]
2. A high official who governs a territory on behalf of the central power: il governatore della colonia.^[5][6][7]
3. The governor of a US state: il governatore dell'Ohio.^[5][6]
4. (journalism) The president of an Italian region.^[6][3]
5. The head of a central bank or large financial institution: il governatore della Banca d'Italia.^[5][6][14]
6. (history) Under Fascism, the head of the governatorato of Rome.^[5][14]
7. The head of a religious confraternity.^[5][6][7]
8. (historical) The tutor of a prince.^[5][6][7]
9. (archaic) A helmsman or ship's commander.^[5][6][14]

Word family

• governatorato
• governatoriale
• governatrice

Related words

• governare
• governo
• Latin gubernātor
• French gouverneur

Usage notes

The feminine is governatrice;^[6][14] governatora is popular or joking.^[6][14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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 j k l m 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 e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
16. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it