Etymologically
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procuratore

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Pronunciation

  • /pro.ku.raˈto.re/[1]

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
  • 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