impiegare

Forms

impiegare (first-person singular present impiègo or impiégo, first-person singular past historic impiegài, past participle impiegàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old Italian forms include empiegasti, Old Italian inpiegar and Old Italian implegar.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin implicō (“to entwine, involve”),^[3][4][5][1] which meant “to tie up” and then also “to engage, pledge”.^[3] The /g/ for Latin /k/ is the northern voicing of a consonant between vowels.^[6][7] Italian implicare is the learned doublet.^[1][8] The verb is French employer, earlier Old French empleiier (13th century), and Old Occitan emplegar.^[4][9][7]

Latin implicō is formed from in- and plicō (“to fold”),^[4][10] the source of piegare.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva, of the late 13th century, with the sense “to make use of something, to direct it to an end”.^[2] A Medieval Latin document of 1287 already has implicandas in lignaminibus, probably “to be invested in timber”, and Il Fiore says that lor limosina è bene impiegata (“their alms are well spent”).^[3][11]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used impiegare for putting something to use and for devoting one's time or life to an activity, and as a reflexive for applying oneself.^[2] Boccaccio writes of effort la quale ottimamente mi parea avere impiegata (“which I thought I had spent very well”).^[7][12] The sense “to spend, invest money” is in Bembo, before 1547, and “to employ someone” in Goldoni, 1751.^[3]

The participle impiegato “clerk, office worker” is recorded from 1771, and impiegarsi “to get a job” from 1841.^[3] Purists blamed French employé: in 1855 Ugolini called cerco d'impiegarmi an ugly phrase, but in 1886 Rigutini observed that impiegare, impiego and impiegato had taken such firm root that it would be easier to abolish the thing than the word.^[3] The use for the time an action takes, “to take”, is common, though Treccani calls it improper.^[13]

Timeline

• 1287 – A Medieval Latin document uses implicare for investing in timber.^[3]
• Late 13th century – Bonvesin de la Riva uses impiegare.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses impiegare “to put to use”.^[3][5]
• Before 1547 – Pietro Bembo uses it for spending or investing.^[3]
• 1581 – Impiego “use” appears in Filippo Pigafetta.^[3]
• 1751 – Goldoni uses impiegare “to take on for work”.^[3]
• 1771 – Impiegato “clerk” is recorded.^[3][4]
• 1811 – Foscolo uses impiego for a steady job.^[3]
• 1841 – Impiegarsi “to get a job” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To use or employ something for a purpose: Ha impiegato tutta la sua pazienza con quel cliente.^[5][14][11]
2. To take an amount of time to do something: Il treno impiega tre ore fino a Roma.^[5][14][15]
3. To spend or invest money: impiegare i risparmi in un appartamento.^[5][11][15]
4. To make use of someone's work: impiegare un tecnico per la riparazione.^[5][15]
5. To hire, take on for a job; to find someone a job: La ditta ha impiegato tre nuovi ragionieri.^[5][14][8]
6. (reflexive, impiegarsi) To get a job: Si è impiegata in un'agenzia di viaggi.^[14][11][15]
7. (reflexive, literary) To devote oneself to something.^[14][11][13]

Word family

• impiegato
• impiego
• impiegabile
• impiegatizio
• disimpiegare
• reimpiegare
• sottoimpiegare

Related words

• implicare
• piegare
• French employer
• Latin implicō

Usage notes

In the sense “to take (time)” the verb is often used as impiegarci, like metterci: Quanto ci impiega il pane a lievitare?^[14][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 221
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1962
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana