indire

Forms

indire (first-person singular present indìco, first-person singular past historic indìssi, past participle indétto, first-person singular imperfect indicévo, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin indīcō (“to announce, proclaim publicly”), adapted to the pattern of the compounds of dire.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Florio in 1598 still had only the full form indicere, and Tommaseo–Bellini in 1869 still referred to it.^[2][7] The Latin verb is formed from in- and dīcō (“to say, declare”).^[8][1][9]

Its derivative indictiō “declaration” came to mean, from the Codex Theodosianus (5th century), each period of fifteen years at whose end the tax assessment was revised.^[2] Italian indizione has that chronological sense already in Dante (1293–1294).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Machiavelli, before 1527, for fixing something publicly and by authority: Li Svizzeri aveano indette nuove diete (“the Swiss had called new diets”).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Guicciardini wrote of a council inditto e intimato by the king of the Romans and the king of France, and Caro used it for decreeing sacred rites.^[5] Buonarroti the Younger used it in the old sense of making something known.^[5] The noun indizione in the general sense of the act of proclaiming is in Guicciardini, before 1540.^[2] Today the verb is used above all of elections, competitions, referendums and public ceremonies.^[10][9][11] Indire guerra, to declare war, is literary, also figuratively, as in Carducci.^[12][13] It follows Latin indicere bellum.^[13]

Timeline

• 1293–1294 – Dante uses indizione for the fifteen-year cycle.^[2]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses indire.^[2][12]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses indizione for the act of proclaiming.^[2]
• 1598 – Florio records only indicere.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To proclaim or call officially and by authority, to fix publicly: Il sindaco ha indetto un referendum cittadino.^{[12][10][9][11]}
2. (literary) To declare war, also figuratively.^[12][11][13]

Word family

• indizione
• indittivo

Related words

• dire
• Latin indīcō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like dire (imperative indici, past participle indetto).^[10][11][14] It is often used in the passive: il bando è stato indetto a marzo.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c 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. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2004
7. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana