mostrare

Forms

mostrare (first-person singular present móstro, first-person singular past historic mostrài, past participle mostràto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mōnstrō (“to show, point out”), a verb formed from mōnstrum (“portent, sign”).^[2][3][4][1] The original sense was “to point out the will of the gods”, but the verb soon passed into everyday Latin with the general sense “to indicate”.^[2][4] The noun is connected with moneō (“to warn”), through Proto-Italic *monestrom.^[5][1]

The verb is found across the Romance languages: French montrer, Occitan mostrar, Catalan mostrar, Spanish mostrar, Portuguese mostrar, Sardinian mustrare and Romanian mustra, which means “to scold”.^[3][6] DÉRom reconstructs Vulgar Latin */ˈmostr-a-/ for Proto-Romance, and beside it a reduced type */ˈmoss-a-/, in which the group /str/ was simplified, in parts of Italy, Ladin, Romansh, Spanish, Asturian and Galician.^[7] English muster comes from the Old French form of the verb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin spelling ⟨monstrare⟩ is used in the Placito di Sessa of 963, one of the earliest documents in the vernacular, in the sense “to point out”.^[2][5] The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio, from the end of the 12th century, has it in the sense “to show something to someone for inspection”, and the Ritmo laurenziano, of the late 12th or early 13th century, in the sense “to show, put before the eyes”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

By the end of the 13th century the verb had most of its modern senses: Brunetto Latini uses it for pretending and, reflexively, for proving oneself, and Guittone d'Arezzo for showing to view.^[2] Dante uses it for displaying and boasting, and for pointing things out; in the Purgatorio Manfred shows him a wound high on his chest (e mostrommi una piaga a sommo ’l petto).^[2][8] Giordano da Pisa has it in the sense “to make clear”.^[2]

The reflexive mostrarsi “to show oneself, appear” is in Dante, and the impersonal use “it seems” is in Boccaccio (come mostra che voi vogliate fare).^[2][4] Old and literary Tuscan had a shortened past participle mostro, as in Pulci's m’hai il cammin mostro.^[9][10] From the verb came mostra (display, exhibition, shop window), recorded before 1292, and its diminutive mostrina, the badge on a uniform collar (1923).^[2]

Timeline

• 963 – The Placito di Sessa has ⟨monstrare⟩ in the sense “to point out”.^[2]
• Late 12th century – The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio uses the verb for showing something for inspection.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni has the noun mostra.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses mostrare for pretending.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for displaying and for showing oneself.^[2]
• 1813 – Mostravento, a ship's wind vane, is recorded.^[2]
• 1923 – Mostrina is recorded in Panzini's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To show, to put before someone's eyes or attention: Mi ha mostrato le foto del viaggio.^[4][11][5]
2. To show for inspection: Mostri il passaporto, per favore.^[4][9]
3. To show off or uncover: mostrare le braccia nude.^[4][11]
4. To point out, indicate: Mi mostrò la via più corta per la stazione.^[4][5][12]
5. To explain, teach, demonstrate: Ci ha mostrato come si usa la macchina.^[4][11][9]
6. To reveal, show a feeling or quality: mostrare coraggio.^[4][5][12]
7. To pretend (with di): Mostrò di non averla vista.^[4][5][12]
8. (archaic, impersonal) To seem.^[4][12]
9. (reflexive, mostrarsi) To show oneself, appear, and to prove oneself: Si è mostrato molto paziente.^[2][12][5]

Word family

• mostra
• mostrina
• mostrino
• mostravento
• mostreggiatura
• mostrabile
• mostratore
• rimostrare
• rimostranza

Related words

• dimostrare
• mostro
• Latin mōnstrō
• French montrer

Usage notes

Set phrases include mostrare i denti (to show one's teeth, to be ready to fight back), mostrare a dito (to point at), mostrare i pugni (to shake one's fists) and mostrare la corda (of cloth, to be threadbare).^[4][9][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 g h i j k l 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10
9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli