preoccupare

Forms

preoccupare (first-person singular present preòccupo, first-person singular past historic preoccupài, past participle preoccupàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin praeoccupō (“to occupy beforehand, seize first”), from occupō (“to seize”) with prae- (“before”).^[2][3][4][1] Its modern sense “to worry” comes from French préoccuper, which developed it through “to fill the mind with a thought”: it is recorded in French for “to worry oneself” in 1559 and “to cause anxiety” in 1642.^[2][3][5] The sense took hold in Italian in the 19th century.^[3][6] DEI calls the reflexive use, “to be worried”, a Gallicism.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Domenico Cavalca's lives of the Desert Fathers (1321–1330), with the senses “to occupy a place before someone else”, “to seize unduly”, “to strike suddenly” (of an emotion) and “to anticipate”.^[8][2] DELI also gives “to speak first” in Cavalca.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The older sense, often military, is still in Machiavelli, who writes of seizing in advance the routes by which a rival climbs to power, and in Foscolo.^[9][6][10] The sense “to make anxious” is recorded in 1871, and the reflexive “to worry” in a Milanese paper in 1845.^[2]

Purists objected.^[2] In 1886 Rigutini called the family “Italian, very Italian”, but in senses quite unlike the ones given to it after French newspapers, and he quoted Littré's complaint about the French use.^[2] Preoccupazione meant “prejudice” in the 14th century and “worry” in Manzoni (1840–1842), and preoccupato “anxious” first appears in a passage of the Promessi sposi (1825–1827) that Manzoni later rewrote.^[2] Preoccupante “worrying” is in Panzini (before 1939).^[2]

Timeline

• 1321–1330 – Domenico Cavalca uses preoccupare for “to occupy first”.^[8][2]
• 1559 – French se préoccuper is recorded.^[2]
• 1642 – French préoccuper is recorded for “to cause worry”.^[2]
• 1825–1827 – Manzoni uses preoccupato for “anxious”.^[2]
• 1845 – The reflexive preoccuparsi “to worry” is recorded.^[2]
• 1871 – The sense “to make anxious” is recorded.^[2]
• 1886 – Rigutini condemns the new senses as French.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To worry, make anxious: La febbre del bambino ci preoccupa.^{[4][11][6][1]}
2. (archaic) To occupy a place or post before someone else.^[4][11][6]
3. (figurative, rare) To prejudice someone's mind.^[4][12][13]

Word family

• preoccupante
• preoccupato
• preoccupazione

Related words

• occupare
• Latin praeoccupo
• French préoccuper

Usage notes

The reflexive preoccuparsi means “to be worried” (non preoccuparti), and also “to take care to do something”: Mi preoccupo io di chiamarlo.^[11][5][12] The present is stressed on the second syllable: preòccupo.^[11][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3064
8. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 181
11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli