peccatore

Forms

peccatore m (plural peccatori, feminine peccatrice, diminutive peccatorèllo, pejorative peccatoràccio)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian pecadore, Old Italian pecatore, Old Italian peccadore and Old Italian peccaore.^[2] The feminine is peccatrice, popularly peccatora.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin peccātor (“sinner”), a word of Church Latin, the agent noun of Latin peccō (“to make a mistake, to sin”).^{[6][7][8][2][1]} The same word is French pécheur, Occitan pecador, Catalan pecador, Spanish pecador and Portuguese pecador.^[9]

For peccō DELI and Nocentini follow the old explanation from an adjective *peccus (“with a faulty foot”), formed from pēs (“foot”) as mancus (“maimed”) was from manus (“hand”), so that to sin was first to make a false step.^[6][7] De Vaan doubts it, since the verb never refers to feet;^[10] Leumann's root Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to fall”), giving “a fall, an error”, fits the sense better but is formally odd.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Umbrian confession formula of the 11th century, for someone who sins or has sinned;^[6][5] Zingarelli dates the word to 1065.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Northern poets of the 13th century have peccador and peccaor: Patecchio says that né 'l peccador col iusto make good company, any more than the lamb with the wolf.^[2] Souls in Dante's Purgatorio say they were peccatori infino a l'ultima ora “sinners to the very last hour”, and in the Paradiso Peter Damian calls himself Pietro peccator, an epithet of humility.^[2][11] In Boccaccio a dying man hopes at least to die as a Christian, se vivuto son come peccatore “if I have lived as a sinner”.^[11][8]

The prayer prega per noi peccatori closes the Hail Mary.^[8] In a joking tone un vecchio peccatore is someone fond of the pleasures of life, especially of love.^[8][12]

Timeline

• 11th century – The Umbrian confession formula has peccatore.^[6]
• 1065 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[5]
• 12th century – Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the word to this century.^[7][3]
• Before 1250 – The verb peccare appears in Cielo d'Alcamo, and peccato in Giacomo da Lentini.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sinner: someone who commits or has committed sins, especially habitually: Il frate ascoltò a lungo il peccatore in confessione.^[12][4][1]
2. (humorous) Someone given to the pleasures of life, especially those of love.^[12][13]

Adjective

1. Sinful, given to sin: una città peccatrice.^[12][4]

Related words

• peccare
• peccato
• Latin peccātor

Usage notes

The feminine peccatrice, alone or in pubblica peccatrice, was used for a prostitute;^[5][8] Zingarelli marks this as dated.^[5][8] The proverb il giusto paga per il peccatore says that the innocent often pay for the guilty.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana