posare

Forms

posare (first-person singular present pòso, first-person singular past historic posài, past participle posàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin pausō (“to cease, stop”), from Latin pausa (“pause, cessation”), which comes from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis, “cessation”).^[2][3][4][1] DELI notes that the relation between the Latin noun and verb is not clear: the verb is usually derived from the noun, though some take the noun as formed from the verb, a view DELI finds weaker.^[2] Devoto explains the sense “put down” as the moment one stops, having finished setting an object down.^[5] Wiktionary allows for the influence of Latin pōnō (“to put”), and the GDLI notes that the Latin verb became a synonym of quiēscō (“to rest”).^[1][6]

The same verb is French poser, Occitan pauzar, Catalan posar, Spanish posar and Portuguese pousar; in Old Romanian it meant “to dwell”.^[3][7]

The senses “sit for a portrait” and “put on airs” follow the French verb, which DELI dates in this use to 1835, together with the noun posa “pose” (1862) and posatore, modelled on French poseur.^[2][6][8] Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti list these senses apart, dated 1883: Devoto–Oli takes them from French, and Sabatini–Coletti from the noun.^[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Novellino, from the late 13th century, uses the verb for “rest or stop on something”.^[2][10] The older sense of the Latin verb, “stop, rest”, is still the first one in the GDLI and in Tommaseo.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the transitive “put down” (before 1321), and the phrase senza posa “without rest”.^[2] C. Cennini uses posare of a liquid letting its sediment settle (late 14th century), and in 1499 the Ricettario fiorentino has posatura “sediment”.^[2] The participle posato took the sense “calm, deliberate” before 1347.^[2]

In the 15th century Ghiberti, Alberti and Leonardo used the noun posare for the pose of a painted figure.^[13] The French senses arrived in the 19th century: posa “pose” for a portrait (1827), “affected manner” (1862), and the verb “pose” in 1862 in F. Petruccelli.^[2] New compounds name supports: posacenere “ashtray” (1922), posacavi “cable ship” (1937).^[2]

Timeline

• About 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the noun posa “rest”.^[2]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses posare “rest on”.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “put down”.^[2]
• Late 14th century – C. Cennini uses it of liquids settling.^[2]
• Before 1502 – A. Cammelli uses it for “be founded on”.^[2]
• 1618 – Posapiano “slowcoach” appears as a nickname in M. Buonarroti the Younger.^[2]
• 1862 – F. Petruccelli uses posare for “put on airs”.^[2]
• 1922 – Posacenere is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put down, set down, lay, usually with care: posò le chiavi sul tavolo.^[14][4][1]
2. To lay or place in a set position: posare i cavi, le tubature.^[14]
3. (figurative) To rest or turn one's eyes or attention on something.^[14][1]
4. (literary) To calm, appease a feeling.^[14][15][1]
5. (intransitive) To rest on a support: il tetto posa su travi di legno.^[14]
6. (intransitive, figurative) To be based on: un'ipotesi che posa su pochi dati.^[14]
7. (intransitive) To pose, sit for a painter or photographer.^[14][9][1]
8. (intransitive, figurative) To pose, put on airs; with a, to pose as: posare a esperto.^[14][9][1]
9. (intransitive, literary) To stop, rest.^[8][1]

Word family

• posa
• posato
• posata
• posatoio
• posatore
• posatura
• posatezza
• posacenere
• posacavi
• posamine
• posapiano
• posaferro

Related words

• pausa
• riposare
• French poser

Usage notes

Posare le armi means “lay down one's arms, stop fighting”.^[14][15] Old Italian also had a posa (third person singular only) “weighs, is unwelcome”, adapted from Old French poise, a form of peser “to weigh”, as in the Fiore.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
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 c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3033
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 1004
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
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. 13, 1009
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli