incignare

Forms

incignare (first-person singular present incigno, first-person singular past historic incignài, past participle incignàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin encaeniō (“to consecrate, inaugurate”), a verb recorded in Saint Augustine (before 430 AD).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from encaenia (“feast of consecration”), which renders Ancient Greek ἐγκαίνια (enkaínia, “feast of dedication”), from καινός (kainós, “new”) with the prefix ἐν- (en-).^[3][2][1] Ascanio Persio already gave this etymology in the 16th century.^[2]

According to the LEI the Latin verb lives on in popular form only in Italy and Sardinia: in inćinǵái (“to renew a garment; to wear it for the first time”) of Campidano, and in Old Campidanese ingenzare (“to begin”) (11th–13th century), probably influenced by Latin initiō (“to begin”).^[5][6] Similar northern dialect types only look like it: for phonetic reasons they cannot come from encaeniō, and the LEI takes them from initiō and signum.^[5] The true type lies south of the La Spezia–Rimini line.^[5] Jaberg studied the verb's survival in the Italian dialects.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Augustine explains the Latin verb: a man who puts on a new tunic is said to encaeniare (Si quis enim nova tunica induatur, encaeniare dicitur).^[7] The first Italian record is Tommaso di Silvestro's ingegnare in the 15th century, meaning “to use for the first time, to begin, to inaugurate”.^[2][5][4] Old Neapolitan has ingigniare before 1498.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In 1592 Ascanio Persio recorded incegnare and noted that it was much used in the Kingdom of Naples.^[2] The LEI groups the dialect senses into “to begin” in general, “to begin” a food and “to begin” a garment.^[5] Tommaseo describes the verb as putting on a garment for the first time, beginning to drink from a cask, and making the first cut into a loaf or a cheese, and calls it Sienese and Neapolitan.^[7] The form incignare is in Girolamo Gigli before 1722, and Viani gave the word a long article in the 19th century.^[2]

Writers used it in new ways: Imbriani for getting a budget approved (before 1886), Pascoli for trying something out for the first time (before 1912), and Faldella for starting to read a book (before 1928).^[5] Pascoli and Pirandello used incignare in Italian prose and verse from 1909 to 1922.^[5] The word still lives in Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Apulia, Taranto and Calabria, as Tarantino incegnare at Taranto.^[5] The dictionaries label it regional, Tuscan and southern.^[4][8][9]

Timeline

• 15th century – Tommaso di Silvestro uses ingegnare “to use for the first time”.^[2][5]
• Before 1498 – Old Neapolitan ingigniare is recorded.^[5]
• 1592 – Ascanio Persio records incegnare as much used in the Kingdom of Naples.^[2]
• 1702 – Incignare is recorded at Spoleto.^[5]
• Before 1722 – Girolamo Gigli uses incignare.^[2]
• Before 1886 – Imbriani uses it for getting a budget approved.^[5]
• 1909 – Pascoli uses incignare in Italian.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (regional, Tuscany and southern Italy) To use for the first time: to wear a new garment or hat for the first time: Domenica incigno le scarpe nuove.^{[4][8][10][1]}
2. To start on a food or drink: to make the first cut into bread or ham, or to broach a cask or flask.^[4][9][11]
3. (by extension) To inaugurate, to start something.^[12][1]

Related words

• Latin initium

Usage notes

The verb is regional, used mainly in Tuscany and the south.^[4][9][1] In the present the first person plural is incigniamo, with ⟨i⟩ after ⟨gn⟩.^[10][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 457
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana