rallentare

Forms

rallentare (first-person singular present rallènto, first-person singular past historic rallentài, past participle rallentàto, auxiliary (transitive) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian ra- + lento, with an intensive prefix, according to DELI, Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Other dictionaries analyse it as allentare with the prefix ri-.^{[7][8][9][10][1]} Nocentini derives that verb from the same adjective with another prefix, and the LEI traces it to Latin *allentāre recorded only in 9th-century glosses.^[3][11]

Lento is inherited from Latin lentus (“pliant, slow”), which DELI finds without clear relatives.^[2] Nocentini compares only Germanic words, such as Old High German lindi (“mild, soft”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the pronominal rallentarsi “to become slower or less intense”, in Bartolomeo da San Concordio, before 1347.^[2][3] The transitive sense “to make slower” follows in Petrarch (1374).^[2]

Semantic evolution

In older poetry the verb often meant “to slacken, loosen”, as in Petrarch's bagna e rallenta le già stanche sarte (“wets and slackens the already weary ropes”) and in images of loosening the bonds of love.^[12] This sense is now uncommon, and allentare is used instead.^[6][7]

The absolute use “to reduce speed” is first dated to 1567, in G. Ceredi.^[2] The figurative “to diminish in intensity” is recorded from 1884, and rallentare le visite “to make one's visits less frequent” from 1872.^[2] The noun rallentatore (1931) named the cinema device for slow motion, and al rallentatore “in slow motion” follows French au ralenti.^[2] In music rallentare is a direction to slow the tempo, like rallentando.^[4][8]

Timeline

• Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses rallentarsi.^[2]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses the transitive verb “to make slower”.^[2]
• 1567 – G. Ceredi uses it absolutely, “to slow down”.^[2]
• 1872 – Rallentare le visite is recorded in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[2]
• 1931 – Rallentatore is recorded for the slow-motion device.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make slower, to slow down: rallentare l'andatura, and in music to slow the tempo.^[4][5][6]
2. (transitive, figurative) To reduce in intensity or effort: rallentare i controlli.^[4][7][6]
3. (transitive) To make less frequent: rallentare le telefonate alla zia, to phone one's aunt less often.^[4][5][9]
4. (transitive, uncommon) To slacken, loosen: rallentare le redini.^[4][5][7]
5. (intransitive) To reduce speed, to decelerate: il camion rallenta prima della curva.^[4][5][8]
6. (intransitive, also pronominal) To become slower, less frequent or less intense.^[4][8][6]

Word family

• rallentamento
• rallentatore
• rallentando
• rallentatura

Related words

• lento
• allentare
• Latin lentus

Usage notes

In the intransitive senses the auxiliary is avere for slowing down and avere or essere for becoming less intense.^[8] The opposite is accelerare.^[8][9]

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 l 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 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 c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 106
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 383