Etymologically
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procedere

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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