Etymologically
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prevedere

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Pronunciation

  • /pre.veˈde.re/[1]

Forms

prevedere (first-person singular present prevédo, first-person singular past historic prevìdi, past participle prevìsto or (less popular) prevedùto, first-person singular future prevedrò or prevederò, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin praevideō (“to foresee”), made of prae- (“before”) and videō (“to see”), and conjugated like Italian vedere.[2][3][4][5][6] Latin gave the family also previdente, from the present participle, and previdenza, from Late Latin praevidentia; preveggente and preveggenza were remade on veggente.[2][3] The same Latin verb gave French prévoir and Spanish prever.[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses the verb for seeing in the mind beforehand, judging an event possible or certain before it happens.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Old texts also used prevedere for “to provide for” a need or a danger, a sense the GDLI records from the Italian translation of Gregory the Great and, from Venetian documents.[8] The modern bureaucratic and legal sense “to provide for, contemplate” in a law or rule is recorded from the Italian Constitution of 1947: il caso non è previsto dalla legge.[2][4][5] Its derivatives followed: previsione (before 1363), with previsione del tempo “weather forecast” from 1871, and prevedibile in 1848.[2]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses prevedere.[2]
  • Before 1363 – Previsione appears in Matteo Villani.[2]
  • Before 1494 – Poliziano uses the participle previsto.[2]
  • 1848 – Prevedibile is recorded.[2]
  • 1871 – Previsione del tempo “weather forecast” is recorded.[2]
  • 1947 – The Italian Constitution uses the verb for “to provide for, regulate”.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To foresee, to know or announce in advance what will happen: Nessuno poteva prevedere una crisi così grave.[4][9][10][1]
  2. To forecast, expect or think likely, on the basis of evidence: Per il fine settimana si prevede pioggia.[4][9][5]
  3. Of a law, rule or plan: to provide for, include: Il contratto prevede una penale.[4][9][10]
  4. To plan, have in one's programme: Per sabato ho previsto una gita.[9][1]

Word family

  • previsione
  • previsto
  • prevedibile
  • imprevedibile
  • imprevisto
  • previdente
  • previdenza
  • previdenziale
  • preveggente
  • preveggenza

Usage notes

The future and conditional are usually prevederò, prevederei, not the contracted forms of vedere; the past participle is previsto, with literary preveduto.[5][9][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3076
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana