radicare

Forms

radicare (first-person singular present ràdico, first-person singular past historic radicài, past participle radicàto, auxiliary (intransitive) èssere or (transitive) avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin radicāre (“to take root”), the active form that the classical deponent Latin rādīcor, used by Pliny and Columella, took from the 4th century AD.^[2][3][4] Zingarelli and the GDLI call it learned, while Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^[5][6][1] DEI sees the popular outcome of the verb in Venetian ragar (“to cut back to the root”).^[7][8] The Latin verb is a denominative of rādīx (“root”).^[9][10][11]

The REW lists Old Occitan razigar beside it.^[8] rādīx goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ur(e)h₂-d-iH- (“root”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the verb to the 13th century, and Prati cites Bono Giamboni for “to take root; to go deep”.^[3][10][13] GRADIT dates it to before 1320.^[4] DELI's first record is the Tuscan translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi, about 1350, where it means “to put out roots”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio used the pronominal radicarsi figuratively, “to fasten itself deeply”, in 1362–1364.^[2] The verb was said of plants and also, by extension, of teeth, corns and tumours.^[14][15] In modern Italian it is used mostly of ideas and prejudices that take hold in people's minds, and radicarsi of people who settle into a new place.^[4][10][16] A transitive use “to instil” is rare.^[4][16]

Old Tuscan place names such as Radicosa (898) and Radicaia (1220) belong to the same family.^[7]

Timeline

• 13th century – First record, according to Nocentini.^[3]
• Before 1320 – GRADIT's date.^[4]
• About 1350 – The Tuscan Crescenzi uses it of plants putting out roots.^[2]
• 1362–1364 – Boccaccio uses radicarsi figuratively.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a plant, to take root; attecchire: questa vite radica anche in terreni poveri.^[4][10][17]
2. (intransitive, figurative) Of ideas or beliefs, to take hold in a person or a society.^[4][10][16]
3. (transitive, figurative, uncommon) To instil, inculcate an idea or principle in someone.^[4][10][16]
4. (pronominal, radicarsi) To settle down in a place and become at home there.^[10][16][17]
5. (pronominal, radicarsi, figurative) Of ideas, to sink deep into someone.^[10][16][5]

Word family

• radicamento
• radicante
• radicato
• radicazione
• diradicare

Related words

• radicale
• radice
• radica
• sradicare
• Latin rādīcor

Usage notes

A rare radicare “to uproot”, used by Boiardo, is a shortening of eradicare or deradicare, with the opposite meaning.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3193
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 818
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 261