rancore

Forms

rancore m (plural rancori)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian rangore, Old Italian ranchore and Old Italian rancor.^[2] A Veronese form with gr- was recorded in the 13th century, influenced by gramo.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin rancor (“rancid taste; grudge”), a learned word.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The Late Latin word meant a rancid taste or smell; the Church Fathers gave it the abstract sense “disgust”, and Jerome uses it, before 420, for an old hatred.^[4][5][3] It is formed from Latin ranceō (“to be rotten, rancid”) + -or, and so is the abstract noun of rancidus, the source of rancido.^[1][9][8] The verb ranceō has no known etymology.^[10][1][11]

The same Latin word is French rancœur, Occitan rancor, Catalan rancor, Spanish rencor and Portuguese rancor.^[5][12] DEI thinks the Italian word may be an early loan from Occitan.^[3] Beside it stood Old Italian rancura “worry, grief”, the same Latin stem with another suffix, probably shaped by cura; it matches Old French rancure, Spanish rencura and Portuguese rancura.^[4][3][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the poems of Giacomino Pugliese, from the first half of the 13th century, with the sense of a lasting bitterness combined with hostility and a wish for revenge.^[2] DELI's first date is Iacopone, before 1306, who says the Pharisees were envious and “full of rancour” (pieni de rancore).^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to that of Late Latin, a hidden resentment nursed after an offence.^[4][6] In Old Italian the word could also mean sadness or melancholy, under the influence of rancura.^[8] Religious writers counted it among the sins: Sant'Antonino calls rancore the second child of sloth.^[13]

In Perugia the word is still used for “regret”, the sense of the old rancura.^[4] Today it is mostly found in phrases such as serbare rancore (to bear a grudge) and senza rancore (no hard feelings).^[6][9] The adjective rancoroso is recorded before 1872.^[5]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – Giacomino Pugliese uses rancore in his poems.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi writes of hearts “full of rancour”.^[4][8]
• Before 1872 – The adjective rancoroso is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. rancour, a grudge: deep resentment towards someone, usually after an offence or a wrong, kept hidden rather than shown: Dopo tanti anni gli porta ancora rancore.^{[6][14][15][7]}
2. (chiefly in the plural) A cause of such resentment: È ora di mettere da parte i vecchi rancori.^[6][14]

Word family

• rancoroso

Related words

• rancido
• rancura
• Latin rancor
• French rancœur

Usage notes

Senza rancore is said after a heated argument to assure the other person that no ill feeling remains.^[6][9] The word is used with per, verso or contro for the person it is directed at.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3205
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 429
9. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse