pagare

Forms

pagare (first-person singular present pàgo, first-person singular past historic pagài, past participle pagàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pācō (“to pacify, quieten”), from pāx (“peace”).^[2][3][4][1] In late and spoken Latin the verb came to mean quieting a creditor with money, and so “to pay”: Medieval Latin pagāre is recorded from 421 according to DEI and the GDLI (GRADIT gives 1142), and pagatio (“payment”) at Naples in the 10th century.^[3][5][6][4] The ⟨g⟩ for Latin ⟨c⟩ is a northern voicing, which shows that the word spread through the northern dialects; the learned doublet pacare keeps the ⟨c⟩.^[7][8][5][1]

The same verb is French payer, Occitan pagar, Catalan pagar, Spanish pagar, Portuguese pagar, Sardinian pagare and Dalmatian pakur.^[3][9][10] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“agreement”); de Vaan relates it to pangō (“to fix, fasten”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fāhan, “to catch”) and Sanskrit पाश (pā́śa, “snare, noose”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is a Florentine bankers' book of 1211, for paying someone the money owed to them.^[2][4] Nocentini dates the word to the second half of the 12th century.^[3] In a Sienese letter quoted by the GDLI, some knights “sono pagati primo mese” (have been paid for the first month).^[6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the verb for “to satisfy, content”, as in Guittone, and Giordano da Pisa (before 1311) has it for “to atone for” and “to reward”.^[12][2] The sense “to pay for someone else, to treat” is recorded in 1733, and the absolute use “to pay off, be worthwhile” in 1950, probably modelled on English to pay.^[2] Pagare di persona “to pay in person, bear the consequences oneself” seems to follow French payer de sa personne (1692).^[2]

Paga “wages” is in Brunetto Latini (before 1294), pagamento from 1272–1277, and the contracted participle pago “satisfied” in Guittone.^[2] Pagherò “promissory note” (1673) is the first person of the future, “I will pay”, written on such notes.^[2][3] Alemannic German borrowed the verb as päge.^[1]

Timeline

• 421 – Medieval Latin pagare is first recorded.^[5][6]
• 1211 – A Florentine bankers' book uses pagare.^[2]
• 1272–1277 – Pagamento is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses paga.^[2]
• 1673 – Pagherò “promissory note” is recorded.^[2]
• 1733 – The sense “to treat someone” is recorded.^[2]
• 1950 – The sense “to pay off, be worthwhile” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pay a sum, a price or a debt; to pay for something: Abbiamo pagato la cena con la carta.^[4][13][7]
2. To pay someone, to remunerate them for goods or work: pagare l'elettricista.^[4][7][14]
3. (colloquial) To treat, to pay for something for someone else: Stasera il gelato lo pago io.^[4][14][15]
4. To bribe: Ha pagato un funzionario per chiudere un occhio.^[7][14]
5. (figurative) To repay, reward, often ironically: pagare qualcuno con l'ingratitudine.^[4][15]
6. (figurative) To pay for, suffer the consequences of, atone for: Pagherà cara la sua arroganza.^[4][7][15]
7. (intransitive, figurative) To pay off, be worthwhile: L'onestà alla lunga paga.^[4][7][2]

Word family

• paga
• pagamento
• pagabile
• pagante
• pagatore
• pagherò
• paghetta
• pago
• appagare
• impagabile
• ripagare
• strapagare

Related words

• pace
• pacare
• Latin pāx
• French payer

Usage notes

The conditional expresses a strong wish: quanto pagherei per… “what I wouldn't give to…”.^[13][15] Fixed phrases include pagare il fio “to pay the penalty”, pagare con la stessa moneta “to pay back in kind” and farla pagare a qualcuno “to make someone pay for it”.^[4][15]

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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2720
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
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. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 724
13. ^ a b 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 c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana