inchinare

Forms

inchinare (first-person singular present inchìno, first-person singular past historic inchinài, past participle inchinàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin inclīnō (“to bend; to turn towards”), formed from *clīnō (“to bend”) with in-.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The verb is the popular form, beside the learned doublet inclinare, taken later from the same Latin verb.^[6][2][7][1] Nocentini sends the simplex to chinare.^[2]

The verb is found across the Romance languages.^[8] The same word is Old French encliner, Old Occitan enclinar and Catalan enclinar (“to greet”), and Romanian închina, which means “to consecrate” and, reflexively, “to pray, cross oneself”.^[2][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Latini, who died before 1294, with the sense “to bend, turn downwards”.^[6] The GDLI quotes his Rettorica: one who goes before the pope or the emperor inchina la testa (“bows his head”) and sometimes kneels to kiss his foot.^[11] Zingarelli dates the verb to about 1250.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The pronominal inchinarsi “to bend, bow, also figuratively” is recorded in the 13th century, in Maestro Francesco;^[6] Schiaffini counted it among the words of feudal life that the poets carried over into courtly love.^[6] From there come “to make a bow to someone out of reverence” (Petrarca, 1374) and the figurative “to pay homage” (Giustinian, before 1446).^[6] The noun inchino, a bow, followed early in the 14th century.^[6][2]

Old Italian also used the verb intransitively without the pronoun, as in Dante's Vinto dal sonno, in su l'erba inchinai (“overcome by sleep, I sank down on the grass”); today inchinarsi has taken over these senses.^[12][3] Literary Italian keeps the intransitive for the setting of the sun and stars, and for “to lean towards, be inclined to”, a sense in which inclinare is now the usual verb.^[12][11] Tommaseo records the infinitive as a noun in the Fioretti, where the wolf shows its assent con inchinari di capo (“with bowings of the head”).^[13]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Latini uses inchinare “to bend, turn downwards”.^[6]
• Before 1328 – Inchino, a bow, appears in Lapo Gianni.^[6]
• 1374 – Petrarca uses inchinarsi for making a bow out of reverence.^[6]
• Before 1446 – Giustinian uses it figuratively for paying homage.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bow, bend or lower (the head, the body, the eyes): inchinò il capo davanti all'altare.^{[3][4][7][5][14]}
2. (literary, figurative) To turn, direct (one's mind or ear) towards something.^{[3][4][7][12]}
3. (literary) To humble, force into submission.^[3][4][14]
4. (literary) To greet with a bow, pay one's respects to.^{[3][4][7][14]}
5. (intransitive, literary) To be inclined (to something): inchinare alla clemenza.^[3][4][14]
6. (intransitive, literary) Of the sun and stars, to set, decline; figuratively, to draw to an end.^{[3][4][7][14]}
7. (inchinarsi) To bow, make a bow as a mark of respect: si inchinò davanti alla regina.^{[4][7][5][14]}
8. (inchinarsi, figurative) To submit, yield, bow to: inchinarsi alla volontà della maggioranza.^{[4][7][5][14]}

Word family

• inchino
• inchinamento
• inchinevole
• rinchinare

Related words

• inclinare
• chinare
• Latin inclino

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1986
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 7, 665
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana