inverdire

Forms

inverdire (first-person singular present inverdìsco, first-person singular past historic inverdìi, past participle inverdìto, auxiliary (transitive) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian in- + verde + -ire, a verb made from the adjective with a prefix meaning “into”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Latin had viridō (“to make green”) and Late Latin viridēscō (“to grow green”).^[2] Körting and Wiktionary also allow a Vulgar Latin *inviridīre (“to grow green”), the source of Romanian înverzi.^[7][1] Similar verbs are Catalan enverdir, Spanish enverdecer and Portuguese enverdecer, and French verdir is recorded from the 12th century.^[1][8][9]

Verde comes from Vulgar Latin *virdis, from Latin viridis (“green, fresh”), a derivative of vireō (“to be green, flourish”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in L. B. Alberti's De iciarchia, about 1470, with the sense “to make vigorous”.^[2] The sense “to make green” appears in 1563 in G. A. Gilio, and the intransitive “to become green” before 1565 in B. Varchi.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Varchi's pastoral poems use the verb figuratively: “che 'nverde più quanto più imbianco” (which grows greener the whiter I grow).^[10] In later literature it mostly describes plants and fields turning green, and also the sky: Piovene writes of patches of sky that “inverdirono” (turned green).^[8]

By extension it was said of a colour that fades to greenish, as when black cloth loses its dye, and of a face turning pale or green with fear, anger or illness: Pindemonte writes “Tutti inverdirono del timore” (they all turned green with fear).^[8][11] In agriculture inverdito describes potatoes that have turned green.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1470 – L. B. Alberti uses the verb for “to make vigorous”.^[2]
• 1563 – G. A. Gilio uses it for “to make green”.^[2][3]
• Before 1565 – B. Varchi uses it for “to become green”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make green, turn green: Le piogge di marzo hanno inverdito le colline.^{[3][12][13][1]}
2. (intransitive, also as inverdirsi) To become green, be covered with green, of fields and plants: Dopo il temporale il giardino è inverdito.^{[12][13][14][1]}
3. (intransitive) Of the face, to turn greenish or pale from illness, fear or anger.^[11][8][1]
4. (intransitive) Of a colour or cloth, to fade to a greenish tint.^[8]

Word family

• rinverdire
• inverdimento
• inverdito

Related words

• verde
• verdire
• Latin viridis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2081
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse