onorare

Forms

onorare (first-person singular present onóro, first-person singular past historic onorài, past participle onoràto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Archaic forms are onrare and orrare, with the loss of the vowel before the stress and then assimilation of the consonants.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

Zingarelli and the GDLI class it as learned: it is borrowed from Latin honōrō (“to honour”), formed from honōs (“honour”), the source of onore.^[4][5][6][7] DEI calls the verb western pan-Romance.^[8] The same Latin verb gave Old Occitan onrar, Spanish honrar, Portuguese honrar and Romansh ondrer.^[9][10]

Latin ⟨hon-⟩ can only continue Proto-Indo-European *ǵhon- or ⟨*ghon-⟩, but no further etymology is known.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in G. Faba, in the 13th century, meaning to treat with honour, to show esteem by acts and behaviour.^[12] The GDLI quotes Faba on a friend da amare e onorare per la sua bontade (“to be loved and honoured for his goodness”).^[13]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to bring honour to, make worthy of esteem” is recorded before 1301 in P. Martelli, and the religious sense “to worship, venerate” in Giordano da Pisa, 1303–1306.^[12] Dante has Homer's companions greet Virgil with Onorate l'altissimo poeta (“Honour the highest poet”, Inferno IV).^[13] Petrarch's line un bel morir tutta la vita onora became proverbial.^[14] In the older language the verb also meant to host someone worthily.^[15][16]

The reflexive onorarsi “to take pride in” is recorded before 1527 in Machiavelli, and the commercial sense of paying a bill (onorare una cambiale) before 1794 in C. Beccaria.^[12]

Timeline

• 1200s – G. Faba uses onorare.^[12]
• Before 1257 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[4]
• Before 1301 – P. Martelli uses it for making someone worthy of esteem.^[12]
• 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for religious worship.^[12]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses the reflexive onorarsi.^[12]
• Before 1794 – C. Beccaria writes onorare una cambiale.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To honour: to treat with esteem and respect, to pay tribute to: onora il padre e la madre.^{[16][3][2][15]}
2. In polite formulas, to honour someone with a visit, one's presence or one's friendship.^[16][3]
3. To be a credit to, to bring prestige to.^[16][2][3]
4. (religion) To worship, venerate.^[16][2][4]
5. To keep, fulfil: to honour one's word or commitments.^[16][2]
6. (commerce) To pay a bill or draft when due: onorare una cambiale.^[16][3][4]
7. (archaic) To welcome or host with every regard.^[16][15]
8. (reflexive, onorarsi) To take pride in, consider oneself honoured by.^[2][4][15]

Word family

• onoranza
• onorato
• onoratore
• onorabile

Related words

• onorario
• onore
• onorevole
• onorificenza
• onorifico
• Latin honor

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2658
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
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. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 995
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET