portatore

Forms

portatore m (plural portatori, feminine portatrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin portātor (“carrier, bearer”), the agent noun of portō (“to carry”).^[2][3][4][1] GRADIT takes it from Medieval Latin, the GDLI calls it learned, and Wiktionary notes that it reads as from Italian portare + -tore too.^[5][4][1] Late Latin writers such as Optatus and Isidore use it.^[6][1]

Meyer-Lübke and Körting count the word among the outcomes of the Latin noun in the Romance languages, beside Romanian purtător, French porteur, Occitan portador, Catalan portador, Spanish portador and Portuguese portador.^[7][8]

De Vaan takes the Latin verb for one made from a noun Proto-Italic *porto/ā- (“passage, crossing”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥-to- (“passed, crossed”) or *port-o- (“passage”); he rejects the older view of a frequentative verb.^[9] Wiktionary carries it back to the root Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to 1264, Nocentini to the first half of the 13th century.^[5][2] DELI's first record is a Florentine register of the convent of Santissima Annunziata of 1288, in the sense “one who carries or transports; bearer”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant both a porter who carried loads for pay and the bearer of a letter or message.^[6][10] In the plague of the Decameron the dead are taken out of their houses con l'aiuto d'alcuni portatori (with the help of some bearers), and Villani has goods loaded a muli e a portatori (on mules and porters).^[6][11] In archaic use it also meant “gravedigger”.^[12]

The bearer of a credit instrument is recorded from 1836, and the porter of expeditions in wild or high country from Massaia, before 1889; in 1905 Panzini complained that the French porteur was often used for the mountain porter instead of the Italian word.^[10] Medicine took it up for the carrier of germs in 1911, and genetics for a carrier of a recessive gene.^[10][5] The euphemism portatore di handicap, a disabled person, was in the press by 1984.^[13] In cycling a portatore d'acqua is a domestique, and in politics one who brings in votes and asks nothing back.^[14]

Timeline

• 1264 – First record, according to GRADIT.^[5]
• 1288 – A Florentine convent register has portatore “bearer”.^[10]
• 1836 – It is recorded at Milan for the bearer of a credit instrument.^[10]
• Before 1889 – Massaia uses it for an expedition porter.^[10]
• 1911 – F. Testi writes on portatori di germi, carriers of germs.^[10]
• 1984 – Portatori di handicap appears in La Repubblica.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bearer, one who carries something, a load or weight: i portatori della croce.^{[5][12][14][1]}
2. A porter: one who carries loads for a living, especially for an expedition, climb or hunting party.^[5][12][15]
3. The bearer of a letter or message; a latore.^[5][12][15]
4. (also adjectival) One that brings or conveys something: un annuncio portatore di speranza.^[5][14][3]
5. (medicine) A carrier of a disease who has no symptoms;^[5][12][15] portatore sano, healthy carrier.^[5][12][15]
6. (medicine) A person who has a given disease or condition.^[5][3]
7. (genetics) A heterozygote with a recessive gene.^[5][12][3]
8. (banking) The bearer of a credit instrument;^[5][15][3] al portatore, payable to bearer.^[5][15][3]
9. (physics) portatore di carica, a charge carrier.^[12][15][3]

Related words

• portare
• Latin portō

Usage notes

The feminine is portatrice.^[1][12] Portatore di handicap is a euphemism for a disabled person.^[12][15][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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 d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli