nominare

Forms

nominare (first-person singular present nòmino, first-person singular past historic nominài, past participle nominàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nōmināre (“to name; to mention; to appoint”), a verb formed on nōmen (“name”).^[2][3][4][1] Zingarelli calls it a learned word.^[5] DéRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance verb meaning “to designate by a name”, which survives in nearly every continental Romance language, beside a form with l- by dissimilation in Sardinian and in Italian and French dialects.^[6] Its outcomes include French nommer, Occitan nomar, Catalan nomenar, Spanish nombrar, Portuguese nomear, Sardinian lumenare and Aromanian numerari.^[2][7] DEI notes that in everyday and dialect speech the verb gave way to chiamare, though it lives on, with initial l-, in Umbria and in the Lombard Alps.^[8][7]

De Vaan derives the Latin noun from Proto-Indo-European *h₃neh₃-mn̥ (“name”), though the shape of the root is disputed.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Novellino (late 13th century), in the sense “to call by name”;^[10][5] Zingarelli dates the verb to about 1261.^[10][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to elect, choose for an office” is recorded in the Sienese statutes of 1310, and “to give a name” in Boccaccio (1353), whose godfather nominollo Giovanni (named him Giovanni).^[10][11][12] Dante uses it for naming the planets as gods.^[11] The sense of appointing to an office is now one of the main ones, while “to give a name” has become uncommon, replaced by denominare.^[13][14] The Second Commandment is given in Italian as non nominare il nome di Dio invano.^[3][4]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses nominare for calling by name.^[10]
• 1310 – The Sienese statutes use it for appointing to an office.^[10]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for giving a name.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To name, give a name to: I botanici devono ancora nominare questa pianta.^[4][5][13]
2. To call by name; to say or utter a name: Il maestro ha nominato gli alunni uno per uno.^[4][14][5]
3. To mention, refer to: Nel suo discorso non ha nominato nessun collega.^[4][13][15]
4. To appoint, designate for an office or rank: L'assemblea l'ha nominato tesoriere.^[4][13][5]
5. (reflexive, literary) nominarsi: to say one's own name; to be called.^[5][13][15]

Word family

• nomina
• nominativo
• nominato
• nominabile
• nominamento
• nominanza
• nominatamente
• nominatore

Related words

• nome
• denominare
• innominato
• soprannominare
• Latin nomen

Usage notes

Sentir nominare someone, mostly in the negative, means to have heard of them.^[13][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2596
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana