peccare

Forms

peccare (first-person singular present pècco, first-person singular past historic peccài, past participle peccàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin peccāre (“to make a mistake, do wrong”).^[2][3][4][1] DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance */ˈpɛkk-a-/ from the cognates of every branch except Romanian and Dalmatian: French pécher, Occitan pecar, Catalan pecar, Spanish pecar and Portuguese pecar.^[5][3][6] Welsh borrowed the Latin verb as Welsh pechu.^[6][7] The Latin verb meant “to go wrong, to make a mistake” from Plautus on, and the Christian sense “to sin”, which later prevailed, is recorded from Saint Augustine.^[5]

The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain.^[8][9] DELI, Nocentini, Devoto and Zingarelli follow the explanation that derives it from an adjective *peccus (“having a faulty foot”), from Latin pēs (“foot”), formed like Latin mancus (“maimed, defective”) from manus (“hand”), so that the first sense would have been “to stumble, to take a false step”.^{[2][3][10][11]} De Vaan objects that nothing in the uses of the verb refers to the foot, and mentions Leumann's derivation from the root Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to fall”), “a fall, an error”, which fits the sense better but leaves the suffix unexplained.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is before 1250, in the Contrasto of Cielo d'Alcamo, with the sense “to commit a sin, to do wrong”.^[2][11] The derivative peccatore “sinner”, from Late Latin peccātor, is older, from the 11th-century Umbrian confession formula, and peccato “sin” is recorded before 1250 in Giacomo da Lentini.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb belonged to religious language: to break the law of God, by thought, word, deed or omission.^[2][12] Fourteenth-century writers such as Cavalca, Passavanti and Dante use it in this sense, and Passavanti, quoting Saint Ambrose, defines sinning as transgressing the law of God and disobeying his commandments.^[13][14]

The general sense “to make a mistake” goes back to Latin, and in the 16th century Castiglione used the verb for “to go too far, to exceed”.^[5][7][15] Today it is also said of things, “to be lacking, to have a flaw in something”, with in.^[4][16][17] The noun pecca “flaw, defect”, formed from the verb, is recorded in the 13th century, and the phrase peccato as an exclamation of regret (che peccato!) from before 1764, in Algarotti.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 11th century – Peccatore appears in the Umbrian confession formula.^[2]
• c. 1224 – Saint Francis uses peccato mortale “mortal sin”.^[2]
• Before 1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses peccare.^[2]
• 13th century – Pecca “flaw” is recorded in Bondie Dietaiuti.^[2]
• 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses peccato veniale “venial sin”.^[2]
• 16th century – Castiglione uses peccare “to go too far”.^[7]
• 1689 – Peccaminoso “sinful” is recorded in Frugoni.^[2]
• Before 1764 – Algarotti uses peccato to express regret.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, religion) To sin, to break a moral or religious law; with di or in: peccare di gola (to sin by gluttony), peccare in pensieri, parole, opere e omissioni.^[4][16][17]
2. (intransitive, by extension) To make a mistake, to err, with di or per: Ha peccato di troppa fiducia.^[4][16][11]
3. (intransitive) Of things, to be deficient, to have a flaw, with in: Il romanzo pecca nel finale.^[4][16][17]

Word family

• peccato
• peccatore
• pecca
• peccante
• peccatrice
• peccaminoso
• peccabile

Related words

• impeccabile
• Latin pecco

Usage notes

In the old medical theory of humours, peccante (Latin materia peccans) described a humour believed to cause disease.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2812
8. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 894
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 755
16. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
17. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana