gradire

Forms

gradire (first-person singular present gradìsco, first-person singular past historic gradìi, past participle gradìto, auxiliary (transitive) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

Nocentini, Wiktionary, Devoto–Oli and Treccani take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *grātīre, a verb formed from Latin grātus (“pleasing, welcome”).^[2][1][3][4] Devoto explains the ⟨d⟩ as northern lenition of ⟨t⟩.^[5] Other dictionaries see a verb formed from Italian grado (“liking, pleasure”), the noun in ⟨a grado⟩ “to one's liking”, and DEI and GDLI add the probable influence of Old Occitan grazir (“to thank”), which also gave Old Italian grazire.^[6][7][8][9] Meyer-Lübke took the Italian verb straight from gradir.^[10] Catalan gradir is the same verb, while French agréer, Occitan agradar, Spanish agradar and Portuguese agradar start from Vulgar Latin *aggrātāre.^[6]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥H-tó- (“praised (in a song)”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to welcome, praise”), and is related to Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇā́ti, “to praise”) and Old Prussian girtwei (“to praise”).^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GDLI notes that the verb began in the lyric poetry of the 13th century.^[7] Inghilfredi uses it intransitively, “to be pleasing”, and an anonymous text of the same century has “to desire”; the transitive sense “to receive with pleasure” is recorded in Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294.^[12] Nocentini dates the verb to the middle of the 13th century, and Zingarelli to about 1250.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In Dante the verb is rare and mostly poetic.^[12] The old senses “to gladden” and “to reward” have died out.^[13][8] The derivatives followed: gradevole in the 14th century, gradito at the start of the 14th century, gradimento in the 17th.^[6]

Today gradire is above all a verb of courtesy: offering food or drink (gradisce un caffè?), closing letters, and in the conditional asking politely or firmly for something (gradirei sapere…).^[4][13][3] Tanto per gradire means accepting a little only to show that one appreciates the offer.^[8][3]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – The verb is first recorded.^[2][8]
• 13th century – Inghilfredi uses it for “to be pleasing”.^[12]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “to receive with pleasure”.^[12]
• 14th century – Gradevole is recorded.^[6]
• 17th century – Gradimento is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To welcome, to accept with pleasure, to appreciate: Ho gradito molto la tua lettera.^{[13][3][9][1]}
2. (transitive) In polite offers of food and drink: Gradisci un bicchiere di vino?; also used alone, gradite?^[13][3][9]
3. (transitive, mostly conditional) To wish, would like: Gradirei una risposta entro domani.^{[13][3][9][1]}
4. (transitive) To like, prefer: said of plants that thrive in a kind of soil.^[8][14]
5. (intransitive, literary) To please, to be welcome to someone.^{[13][8][4][1]}
6. (obsolete) To reward; to gladden.^[13][8]

Word family

• gradito
• gradimento
• gradevole
• aggradire
• sgradire
• disgradire

Related words

• grado
• grato
• grazia
• Latin grātus

Usage notes

A separate Latinism gradire “to walk, advance”, from Latin gradior, is found in Dante's Purgatorio (24, 61) and in Guittone.^[6][7][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1852
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET