mordere

Forms

mordere (first-person singular present mòrdo, first-person singular past historic mòrsi, past participle mòrso, auxiliary avére)^[1] The past participle is morso; an older morduto is archaic.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mordere, with the stress on the root, which replaced classical Latin mordēre (“to bite”) by a change of conjugation.^{[5][6][7][1][4]} The verb is found across Romance except in Romanian: French mordre, Occitan morder, Catalan morder, Spanish morder and Portuguese morder.^[8][6][9]

Several Italian words go back to Latin derivatives of the verb: mordace to mordāx (“prone to bite”), morsa “vice” to the neuter plural of the past participle morsus, and morsicare to a Late Latin verb.^[5][6] The noun mordente took its senses from French mordant.^[5][6]

The Latin verb has few sure cognates.^[5] Nocentini and Devoto name only a Sanskrit verb meaning “to crush, grind” as a close match.^[6][10] De Vaan sees an iterative present with the o-grade, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mord-(e)ie- (“to crush, bite”), and compares Avestan and Old Persian verbs for “to crush”, Ancient Greek ἀμέρδω (amérdō, “to deprive of”) and Old English smeortan (“to hurt”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante (1300–1313), in the sense “to seize hard with the teeth, wound with the teeth”.^[5][7] In the Inferno a barking dog “quiets down once it bites its food” (si racqueta poi che 'l pasto morde).^[12]

Semantic evolution

The verb soon spread from teeth to tools and other things that grip: “to grip as in a vice” is recorded before 1333 in Arrigo Simintendi, and “to eat into by force” in Cennino Cennini in the late 14th or early 15th century.^[5] From there come the modern senses of a file or saw that cuts, an anchor that takes hold of the bottom, an acid that corrodes metal, and cold or spice that stings.^[7][2][13] Figuratively it means to criticise sharply or to torment, as in Dante's più non si va, se pria non morde, anime sante, il foco (“one goes no further, holy souls, unless the fire bites first”).^[7][4]

The noun morso “bite” is recorded even earlier than the verb, before 1276 in Pannuccio dal Bagno, and the phrase dar di morso in the 14th century.^[5] Later derivatives include demordere “to give up” (1798) and mordicchiare “to nibble” (1895, Fogazzaro).^[6][5] Common figurative phrases are mordere il freno “to chafe at restraint”, mordere la polvere “to bite the dust”, mordersi la lingua “to bite one's tongue”, and the journalistic mordi e fuggi for something done in a hurry.^[3][13][2]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante uses mordere “to bite”.^[5]
• Before 1333 – Arrigo Simintendi uses it for gripping as in a vice.^[5]
• Late 14th or early 15th century – Cennino Cennini uses it for eating into a material.^[5]
• 1798 – Demordere “to give up” is first recorded.^[6]
• 1895 – Fogazzaro uses mordicchiare “to nibble”.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bite, seize and grip with the teeth; of animals, to bite someone: Il gatto mi ha morso la mano.^[7][2][1]
2. (colloquial) Of insects, to sting or bite: Stanotte mi hanno morso le zanzare.^[7][2][14]
3. To eat greedily, in big mouthfuls.^[7][13]
4. Of a tool or anchor, to grip, take hold, bite into: Questa sega non morde più.^[7][2][14]
5. Of an acid, to corrode, eat into.^[7][2]
6. (figurative) To give a sharp, stinging sensation: Stamattina il gelo morde.^[7][2][13]
7. (figurative) To criticise harshly, rebuke.^[7][4]
8. (figurative) To torment, afflict.^[7][14]

Word family

• mordace
• mordacità
• mordente
• mordicchiare
• morsa
• morsettiera
• morsetto
• morsicare
• morsicatura
• morsura
• mordacchia
• mordenzare
• mordiglione
• demordere
• rimordere
• morso

Related words

• Latin mordeō
• French mordre

Usage notes

The proverb can che abbaia non morde (“a dog that barks doesn't bite”) is said of people who threaten loudly.^[4][3] Mordersi le mani means to regret something that can no longer be put right.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2507
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 892
13. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse