poetare

Forms

poetare (first-person singular present poèto, first-person singular past historic poetài, past participle poetàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin poētārī (“to write poetry”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The TLIO derives it instead within Italian from poeta.^[7] The deponent verb is formed from poēta (“poet”), which is from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “maker; poet”), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make”).^[8][1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the rhymes of Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, in the sense of treating a subject by the rules of poetry and composing verse.^[7] DELI's first date is from Dante, before 1321.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb also meant to invent or speak figuratively, with reference to the fables of the poets whose hidden sense was drawn out by allegory.^[7] Dante uses it both without an object, of Ovid (converte poetando) and of the Aeneid (fummi nutrice, poetando), and with one, of those who in ancient times poetaro / l'età de l'oro (“sang in verse of the golden age”).^[10][4][11] Petrarch writes of the crown che suole ornar chi poetando scrive (“that usually adorns those who write as poets”).^[10][11]

Zingarelli records an obsolete reflexive poetarsi, to be crowned as a poet.^[3] The infinitive is often used as a noun (il poetare).^[7][12][11] The present tense is rare, and the present participle poetante is used as a noun, often with a belittling tone.^[11]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses poetare.^[7]
• 1308 – Zingarelli's date for the verb.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it in the Comedy, transitively and intransitively.^[9][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To write poetry, compose verse: poetare in dialetto.^{[4][12][13][11]}
2. (transitive, uncommon) To treat a subject in verse, tell it in poetry.^[4][12][11]
3. (transitive, uncommon) To compose a poem.^[11][1]

Word family

• poetante
• poetabile

Related words

• poesia
• poeta

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b 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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 711
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse