proseguire

Forms

proseguire (first-person singular present proséguo or prosèguo, first-person singular past historic proseguìi, past participle proseguìto, auxiliary (most meanings) avére or (alternatively when intransitive and with a thing as the subject) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

Nocentini takes it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *prosĕquĕre, the spoken form of the classical verb, formed from Latin prō- (“forward”) and sequor (“to follow”).^[2][3][4] Battisti and Alessio see it instead as a learned adaptation borrowed from Latin prōsequor (“to follow, accompany; continue”), and Wiktionary leaves both possibilities open;^[5][1][6] Devoto notes that the Latin verb was reshaped on seguire.^[5][1][6]

The same verb is French poursuivre, Occitan proseguir, Catalan proseguir and Spanish proseguir.^[2][7] The Latin verb for “follow” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow, accompany”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Zingarelli dates the first record to about 1300, and GRADIT to 1304–1308.^[9][4] DELI's first record, “to continue, carry on”, is Dante's Inferno (before 1321): E proseguendo la solinga via (“and continuing on the lonely way”).^[3][10][11]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb was also used in law, of pursuing a case, from 1332.^[5] Old forms include proscieguire, prosequire and prosseguire, and an old present proseguisco.^[11] The intransitive sense “to go ahead, persist” is dated by DELI to Lorenzo Magalotti in 1666.^[3]

The learned prosecuzione, from Late Latin prosecutio, is recorded before 1363, proseguimento in 1643, and the back-formation prosieguo in 1848, with in prosieguo di tempo “later on” in 1922.^[3][2] In modern use the verb is common with vehicles and routes, as when a train goes on to another city.^[4][12]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – First record, according to the Zingarelli.^[9]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for continuing on a way.^[3]
• 1332 – A legal use is recorded.^[5]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses prosecuzione.^[3]
• 1643 – Luca Assarino uses proseguimento.^[3]
• 1666 – Lorenzo Magalotti has the intransitive sense “to go ahead”.^[3]
• 1848 – Prosieguo first appears, in the phrase in prossieguo.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To continue, carry on with something already begun: Dopo la sosta proseguimmo la salita.^{[4][13][14][1]}
2. (transitive, literary) To pursue.^[9]
3. (intransitive) Of a person, to go on, proceed; to persist (in something): Ha deciso di proseguire con la ricerca.^{[4][13][15][1]}
4. (intransitive) To go on speaking: «E poi» proseguì la nonna, «arrivò la neve.»^[4][13][12]
5. (intransitive) Of things, to continue, not stop; of a vehicle, to continue the journey: Il pullman prosegue fino a Siena.^{[4][14][12][1]}

Word family

• proseguimento
• prosieguo
• proseguibile
• proseguitore

Related words

• prosecuzione
• seguire
• prosecutore
• Latin prōsequor

Usage notes

As an intransitive verb it takes avere when the subject is a person, and essere or avere when it is a thing or a vehicle.^[14][9][1] The present is proséguo, also prosèguo.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3110
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ 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, 695
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse