procuratore

Forms

procuratore m (plural procuratori, feminine procuratrice)^[1] Old Italian procoratore, proccuratore; feminine procuratrice.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōcūrātor (“manager, agent”), a learned word, as is the verb procurare.^[2][5][3][6] The Latin noun is formed with “-tor” from prōcūrō (“to take care of, manage”), which is prō (“on behalf of”) with cūrō (“to care for”), from cūra (“care”).^[2][5][7][1] De Vaan takes “cūra” back to Proto-Italic *kwois-ā- (“care, watch”), perhaps from a root Proto-Indo-European *kwei- (“to heed”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to 1270, in the old form procoratore;^[3][2][9] DELI's first record is in Florentine texts of 1279–1280, for a person holding a power of attorney who can act for another.^[3][2][9] The form procuratore is in a register of 1300, and Domenico Cavalca, before 1342, uses it for one who argues others' cases in court.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dino Compagni (1310–1312) has the general sense “one who brings something about”, now archaic.^[2][10] In the Republic of Venice the procuratori di San Marco (recorded in 1282) administered the state's revenues and watched over wills;^[9][4] English writers called them Procurators of Saint Marke in 1593.^[9][4] The word is also used for the officials who ran the emperor's estates and provinces in ancient Rome.^[3][10][11]

In the modern state the procuratore della Repubblica heads the public prosecutor's office at a court.^[3][6][4] The procuratore legale, a qualified lawyer who represented parties in court, was abolished in 1997 and merged into the avvocato.^[6][11] In sport the word is used for an athlete's agent, beside English manager.^[10][11][3] German borrowed Prokurator in 1472–1473.^[9]

Timeline

• 1270 – Procoratore is recorded.^[3][9]
• 1279–1280 – Florentine texts use it for a holder of a power of attorney.^[2]
• 1282 – The procuratore di San Marco of Venice is recorded.^[9]
• 1300 – The form procuratore is recorded.^[2]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for “one who brings something about”.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses it for a lawyer who represents parties.^[2]
• 1472–1473 – German Prokurator is recorded.^[9]
• 1997 – The profession of procuratore legale is abolished.^[6][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) A person holding a power of attorney, who acts in another's name and on their behalf; an agent of a company: Firma i contratti come procuratore della ditta.^[3][6][10]
2. (law) Procuratore della Repubblica: the magistrate heading the public prosecutor's office at a court; also procuratore generale, sostituto procuratore.^[3][6][4]
3. (law, historical) Procuratore legale: a law graduate qualified to represent parties in court, a profession merged into that of avvocato in 1997.^[6][11][4]
4. (sport) An athlete's agent, who handles contracts and money.^[10][11][3]
5. (Catholic Church) The representative of a religious order at the Holy See; the promoter of a cause of beatification.^[3][10][11]
6. (historical) A procurator of ancient Rome; a procuratore di San Marco of Venice.^[3][4][10]
7. (archaic) One who brings something about.^[10][4]

Word family

• procuratrice
• procuratoria
• procuratorato

Related words

• procuratela
• procurare
• procura
• curare
• cura

References

1. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli