Etymologically
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prete

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Pronunciation

Forms

prete m (plural preti)[1] Old forms include Old Italian preite, Old Italian prevede, Old Italian preveo, Old Italian priete and the learned Old Italian presvite.[2][3] Before a name the clipped form pre is used.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Italian preite, inherited from Vulgar Latin *previter, the popular outcome of Late Latin presbyter (“elder; priest”), a word of the Christian Church.[5][6][1] The Latin word was borrowed from Ancient Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbúteros, “older”), the comparative of πρέσβυς (présbus, “old man”).[7][8][9][1] The learned form of the same word is presbitero.[10][5] Nocentini notes that the Italian word continues the nominative and vocative rather than the accusative, as happens with other very common nouns for people, such as moglie and uomo.[5]

A variant Late Latin praebyter is recorded in inscriptions and glosses.[5][11] It has been explained by a blend with arbiter (“arbiter”), but DEI prefers a blend with praebitor (“provider”), an idea the GDLI also gives.[11][2] Devoto explains the Tuscan form by the complete weakening of the intervocalic /b/ through /v/, typical of central and northern Italy, against the southern tradition of Old Italian previte; the diphthong /ei/ of the Old Italian form was then reduced, as in quaranta.[12]

The word is found across the Romance languages: French prêtre, Occitan pestre, Catalan preste, Spanish preste, Portuguese preste, Sardinian preide, Friulian predi and Romanian preot.[5][13] The French word was borrowed as German Priester and English priest.[5] The Latin word was also borrowed into Welsh pryfder, Albanian prift and Basque bereter.[11][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to the first half of the 12th century, in the old form prevede.[6] DELI's first record is in Garzo, about 1225, and Nocentini gives 1228; the sense is “priest”, a secular cleric of the Church.[10][5] Garzo writes: Prete talor predica / di quel che sé non medica (“A priest sometimes preaches about what he does not cure in himself”).[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named the ordained minister of the Catholic Church, and in Old Italian also a pagan priest of idols, as in Cavalca.[3][14] By extension it came to mean a minister of any religion, and in modern use it can be disparaging, for a hypocritical, unctuous person or a supporter of the clergy in politics.[6][15] The Prester John of medieval legend is prete Gianni, earlier presto Giovanni in Giovanni Villani.[16][3]

In many parts of Italy prete also named the wooden frame that held a pan of embers between the sheets to warm a bed, recorded from before 1722.[10] Lombardy says frate, Liguria monaca and Tuscany suora for it, and French, Catalan and Spanish name it after monks and friars too.[10][5] Tagliavini, quoted by DELI, rejects a satirical allusion to clerical celibacy and sees a personification: the useful object warms the bed and leaves before its owner gets in, like a person who serves others.[10][5] In Tuscan dialect the word is also a bird name, the stonechat, recorded in 1886.[16]

Timeline

  • First half of the 12th century – The old form prevede is recorded.[6]
  • About 1225 – Garzo uses prete.[10]
  • About 1346 – The adjective pretesco “priestly” is recorded.[5]
  • Early 16th century – Spretarsi “to leave the priesthood” appears.[5]
  • 1691 – Spretato “unfrocked” is recorded.[5]
  • Before 1722 – Girolamo Gigli uses prete for the frame of a bed-warmer.[10]
  • 1886 – Prete is recorded as a Tuscan name of the stonechat.[16]

Meanings

Noun

  1. priest: a minister of the Catholic Church, especially of the secular clergy: Il prete del paese benedice le case a Pasqua.[6][7][8]
  2. By extension, a minister of another religion: Alla cerimonia c'erano anche due preti anglicani.[6][8][15]
  3. (figurative, derogatory) A hypocritical, unctuous person.[6][15]
  4. (popular) A wooden frame that held a pan of embers between the sheets to warm a bed.[6][7][9]

Word family

  • pretesco
  • spretarsi
  • spretato
  • pretino
  • pretone
  • pretaccio
  • pretume
  • presbitero
  • arciprete
  • Latin presbyter
  • French prêtre

Usage notes

Common phrases include farsi prete “to become a priest”, scherzo da prete “a nasty trick in bad taste”, boccone del prete “the parson's nose of a cooked chicken; a delicacy” and prete operaio “worker priest”.[9][15][17] Pesce prete is the stargazer, a fish of the Mediterranean.[15][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. 14, 285
  3. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 803
  4. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3073
  12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 344
  13. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  15. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  16. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3074
  17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli