mergere

Forms

mergere (first-person singular present mèrgo, first-person singular past historic mèrsi, past participle mèrso, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin mergō (“to dip, plunge, sink”), the verb also behind immergere and emergere.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^[1]

The Latin verb survives in other languages with marked changes of meaning: Romanian merge (“to go”) and Romansh schmerscher (“to hurl down a precipice; to fell trees”).^[6][3][5] Meyer-Lübke found the development of the Romanian sense impossible to trace.^[6] From the past participle mersus comes Lombard mersa (“great quantity”) of Ticino and the Valsassina, first “abyss”.^[6][5] DEI also compares Old French mergir.^[5]

De Vaan derives the Latin verb from Proto-Indo-European *mesg- (“to sink, wash”), with Lithuanian mazgóti (“to wash”) as a cognate.^[7] Nocentini writes the root *mezg-.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI cites a figurative use by Guittone d'Arezzo in the 13th century, “to lead to death”.^[5] In one of his letters, desires that harm a man are said to plunge men into death: desiderii molto nocivi, che mergono gli uomini a morte.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the verb in the Purgatorio for justice that holds the avaricious down to the ground: così giustizia qui a terra il merse “so justice here sank it to the earth”, which the commentator Buti glosses as “sank it”.^[8][4][9] DEI gives Dante's use the figurative sense “to cast down”.^[5]

The verb never left the literary language and is now archaic.^[4][10][2] It is conjugated like immergere.^[11][10]

Timeline

• 13th century – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the verb figuratively.^[5][8]
• First half of the 14th century – The date of first record in GRADIT, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli.^[4][3][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary, archaic) To immerse, plunge, sink, especially in a liquid: Mergeva la mano nell'acqua gelida.^{[4][10][2][12]}
2. (literary) To lower, bring down.^[11][12][5]

Related words

• immergere
• emergere
• Latin mergō

Usage notes

The past historic is mersi and the past participle merso.^[1][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2429
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c d 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 Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli