protendere

Forms

protendere (first-person singular present protèndo, first-person singular past historic protési, past participle protéso, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin prōtendō (“to stretch forth”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from prō- (“forward”) and tendō (“to stretch”), the source of tendere.^[2][5][3]

Latin tendō comes from the root Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”), which also gave Latin teneō; the dental at the end of the present stem cannot be traced back to a definite Proto-Indo-European form.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is reflexive, “to push oneself forward, lean out”, in Dante, who died in 1321; the transitive sense “to stretch out in front” follows in Iacopo Passavanti in 1354.^[2] GRADIT dates the word to 1313–1319, the years of the Commedia.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Passavanti's hermit tells his story while stretching out his arms before the fire (ora protendendo le braccia), a passage the GDLI and Tommaseo both quote.^[7][8] In poetry the verb took figurative objects: Foscolo's cypresses and cedars spread their evergreen over the urns (perenne verde protendean su l'urne), and Leopardi turns ear and eye towards the balcony (protendea l'orecchio avido).^[8][9][4] DEI also records a 14th-century sense “to stretch one's limbs”.^[10]

In modern Italian the verb is common, mostly for arms or hands held out towards someone.^[4][11] The reflexive protendersi means “to lean out” and “to reach out” in space, as a headland stretching into the sea, and figuratively “to aim at” a goal.^[11][12][13]

Timeline

• 1313–1319 – GRADIT's date for the first record, in Dante.^[4]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the reflexive in the sense “to lean forward”.^[2]
• 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses the transitive “to stretch out in front”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To stretch out or hold out in front, especially the arms or hands, often towards someone: protese le mani verso il figlio.^[4][11][12]
2. (transitive, figurative, literary) To turn or direct, as the eye or ear towards something.^[4][14][9]
3. (literary) To spread over something, as branches above a tomb.^[14][15]
4. (reflexive, protendersi) To lean out or push oneself forward: si protende dal davanzale.^[11][13][12]
5. (reflexive, protendersi) To extend or jut out into a space: la penisola si protende nel lago.^[11][12][13]
6. (reflexive, figurative) To strive or aim at something.^[11]

Word family

• proteso
• protensivo
• protendimento

Related words

• tendere
• Latin prōtendō

Usage notes

The verb is conjugated like tendere: past historic protesi, past participle proteso, which is also used as an adjective.^[1][12][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 733
8. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3115
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli