premiare

Forms

premiare (first-person singular present prèmio, first-person singular past historic premiài, past participle premiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin praemiāre (“to reward”), a verb recorded in Augustine.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Classical Latin had only the deponent praemiārī, which Suetonius uses in the sense “to make a profit, earn”.^[2][5][7] Nocentini names the classical deponent as the source.^[8]

Both are formed from praemium (“reward, prize”), which is from prae- (“before”) and emō (“to take, obtain”): what one has obtained ahead of others.^[1][9] DEI compares Old French premier (“to reward”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record, with the sense “to recognise and reward with a prize the worth of someone or something”, is in Boccaccio, dated 1353 by DELI and 1348–1353 by GRADIT.^[11][3] The Decameron has the king acting thus, il nobile cavaliere altamente premiando (“rewarding the noble knight handsomely”).^[5][7] Zingarelli gives an earlier date, before 1328.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb meant both giving a material prize and rewarding with honour or praise.^[5][7] The Italian version of Benvenuto da Imola has tutti li lodoe e premiogli (“he praised them all and rewarded them”), and Castiglione tells of great lords who aver premiato largamente i burlatori (“rewarded the pranksters generously”).^[5] A 19th-century Milanese paper wrote of a singer “rewarded with the loudest applause”.^[5]

The past participle premiato became a common adjective.^[12] Virtù premiata and onestà premiata (“virtue, honesty rewarded”) were titles of popular novels and tales of the 19th century, and a firm that won a prize at an exhibition advertised itself as la premiata ditta.^[12] DEI lists premiante, premiatore and premiazione from the 14th century and premiabile from the 17th.^[10]

Timeline

• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses premiare in the Decameron.^[3][11][5]
• 14th century – Premiante, premiatore and premiazione are recorded.^[10]
• 17th century – Pallavicino uses premiabile and premiatrice.^[10]
• 19th century – Virtù premiata and similar phrases serve as titles of popular novels.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To give a prize or award to someone for their merit, skill or achievements, or to a work: La giuria ha premiato la poesia più breve.^{[3][13][6][1]}
2. (by extension) To reward, also with recognition that is not material: Alla fine la sua costanza fu premiata.^{[3][4][12][1]}

Word family

• premiato
• premiazione
• premiatore
• premiabile
• premiante
• ripremiare

Related words

• premio
• Latin praemium

Usage notes

The first person singular present (io) prèmio has the stress on the first syllable, like the noun premio.^[13][6][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3062
11. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier