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orinare

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word orinare

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1298 after 1298, Questioni filosofiche More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin ūrīna

Pronunciation

  • /o.riˈna.re/[1]

Forms

orinare (first-person singular present orìno, first-person singular past historic orinài, past participle orinàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian orina + -are.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Wiktionary instead derives it directly from Latin ūrīnor, and the TLIO, after DELI, from the scientific Latin verb urinari.[1][8]

In classical Latin the verb meant “to plunge under water”, and its noun ūrīnātor meant “diver”.[9] Following Scheller, DELI takes “puddle” as the first sense of the noun ūrīna, and its common sense “urine” as a usage of the physicians.[9] Nocentini compares the Latin noun with Greek words for urine, and through Sanskrit and Avestan words for water and rain he sees the sense “urine” as a euphemism for “water”.[10]

The initial /o/ of the Italian noun goes back to Vulgar Latin *aurīna, an old association of its yellow colour with Latin aurum (“gold”).[9][10] The noun is also Old French orine, Occitan aurina, Catalan orina, Spanish orina and Portuguese ourina.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Questioni filosofiche, a south-eastern Tuscan text written after 1298, with the sense “to pass urine”.[8][10] DELI's first dates are the 14th-century Vite dei Santi Padri and Franco Sacchetti, before 1400.[9]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Italian the verb was also used of other substances passed with the urine, and the infinitive served as a noun for the act.[8] In one of Sacchetti's tales a provost is reproached for waking his companions every night con questo tuo orinare (“with this urinating of yours”).[11][5]

The verb has kept the same sense in medicine and everyday language: Galileo complains of a difficoltà di orinare (“difficulty in urinating”).[5] Treccani sets it beside popular pisciare and familiar fare la pipì.[7]

Timeline

  • After 1298 – The Questioni filosofiche have the first record.[8][10]
  • 1300s – The Vite dei Santi Padri use the verb.[9]
  • Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it in his tales.[9]
  • 1846 – The noun orinatoio, a public urinal, is recorded in Carena.[9]
  • 1922 – Orinazione “urination” enters the Zingarelli dictionary.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To urinate, to pass urine.[2][3][4][6]
  2. (transitive) To pass a substance, such as blood or pus, with the urine.[2][3][6][7]

Word family

  • orinatoio
  • orinazione
  • orinata

Usage notes

The form urinare is also used, especially in medicine;[6][4] Sabatini–Coletti calls it the less frequent form.[6][4] Synonyms are the formal mingere, popular pisciare and familiar fare la pipì.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
Cite this entry

“Orinare.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/orinare. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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