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procedere

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word procedere

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
second half of the 12th century
Borrowed from
Latin procedo
Ultimate origin
Latin cēdō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin procedo
English proceed
Italian procedere

Pronunciation

  • /proˈt͡ʃɛ.de.re/[1]

Forms

procedere (first-person singular present procèdo, first-person singular past historic procedétti or (traditional) procedètti or procedéi, past participle procedùto, auxiliary (some meanings) èssere or (other meanings) avére)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin prōcēdere (“to go forward, advance”), from prō- (“forward”) and cēdō (“to go, advance”), also the source of cedere.[2][3][4][5] The same Latin verb gave the learned French procéder and Spanish proceder, and survives as a popular word in Romanian purcede.[3][6] Southern dialects have derived adjectives such as Sicilian maluprucidusu (“rash”).[6] procedura is not formed from the verb: it is French procédure.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Nocentini date the word to the second half of the 12th century.[4][5][3] DELI's earliest dated sense is the legal one, “to take action at law”, in the Sienese statutes of 1298–1309;[2][7] Dante has “to derive, come from” in the Convivio (1304–1308) and “to go forward” in the Purgatorio: “Poi fummo fatti soli procedendo” (“then, when we were left alone as we went on”).[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From “going forward” the verb moved to continuing in what one has begun (Alberto della Piagentina, before 1332), to behaving or acting in a certain way (Berni, before 1535), and to running one's course, said of things (Guicciardini, before 1540).[2] The noun procedimento is recorded before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo.[2] In theology the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father.[4][8]

The old past participle processo gave way to proceduto.[5][8] French procédure was borrowed as procedura, “way of proceeding”, in 1638, and in the legal sense by Goldoni in 1747.[2] In legal language non luogo a procedere is the ruling that there are no grounds to bring a case.[8][9]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 12th century – Procedere is first recorded.[4][3]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses procedimento.[2]
  • 1298–1309 – The Sienese statutes use procedere in the legal sense.[2]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “to derive” in the Convivio.[2]
  • Before 1332 – Alberto della Piagentina uses it for “to continue”.[2]
  • Before 1535 – Berni uses it for “to behave”.[2]
  • 1638 – Procedura is borrowed from French.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To advance, to go forward: Il corteo procedeva lentamente verso la piazza.[4][5][10]
  2. Of an activity or a period: to go on, to run its course: Come procedono i lavori in cucina?[4][5][10]
  3. To continue in something begun: procedere nella lettura.[4][5][8]
  4. To act, to behave in a certain way: Bisogna procedere con prudenza.[4][5][10]
  5. To proceed to, to start (with a): Il presidente procede allo scrutinio delle schede.[4][5][10]
  6. (law) To take legal action (with contro).[4][5][8]
  7. To derive, to originate (with da); (theology) of the Holy Spirit, to proceed from the Father.[4][8][9]

Word family

  • procedimento
  • procedibile
  • procedibilità
  • procedenza

Usage notes

Procedere takes essere when it means moving forward or of things running their course, and avere when it means acting, starting or suing; usage varies for the first sense.[5][8][11] The past historic is procedetti or, less often, procedei.[5][8] GDLI also records an old procedere “to precede”, a variant of precedere with the prefix changed.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3088
  7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 430
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ a b c d 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
  12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 435

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Procedere.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/procedere. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·