Etymologically
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rapina

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Pronunciation

Forms

rapina f (plural rapine)[1] Old Italian also wrote rappina, rampina and ranpina.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rapīna (“robbery, plunder”), a learned word.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The Latin noun is formed from rapiō (“to seize, carry off”), the source of rapire, with the suffix -īna, as ruīna comes from ruō (“to fall”).[9][4][10][1]

De Vaan derives rapiō from a root Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- (“to snatch”);[1] Schrijver proposed *h₁reh₁p- instead.[1] The popular outcome of rapīna is Old French ravine “robbery; violence”, which became French ravine “torrent; gully”.[11] Nocentini compares Spanish rapiña.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese poet Uguccione da Lodi, early in the 13th century.[2] DELI's earliest date is for the literary sense “sweeping force”, in Oddo delle Colonne before about 1250, and the sense “robbery” follows before 1292 in Bono Giamboni, who defines it as a taking of others' goods by force (uno predamento per forza dell’altrui cose).[3][12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word covered robbery, theft by skill, plunder and the booty taken, and phrases such as vivere di rapina (to live by robbery; of animals, by hunting) and uccelli di rapina, birds of prey.[2] It could also mean abduction or rape, and a violent force.[2] Dante uses the last sense of the infernal storm that drives the spirits: mena li spirti con la sua rapina.[8][13][14] The Maestruzzo, following Saint Thomas, judged it graver than furto, because it wronged the person as well as the goods.[15]

DELI dates the sense “unjust extortion” and the meaning “goods taken by robbery” from the 14th century.[3] Modern criminal law distinguishes rapina propria from rapina impropria, violence used just after a theft to keep the goods or escape.[12] In football slang a gol di rapina is a goal snatched from a defender's mistake.[16][7][17]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses rapina.[2]
  • Before c. 1250 – Oddo delle Colonne uses it for a sweeping force.[3][7]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for robbery.[3]
  • 14th century – The senses “extortion” and “booty” are recorded.[3]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante writes of the storm's rapina in the Inferno.[8][14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) robbery: taking someone's property by violence or threats: rapina a mano armata.[8][16][13][7]
  2. (uncommon) The loot from a robbery.[8][16][7]
  3. plunder, the sacking of a country by soldiers: Le bande vivevano di rapina.[8][16][7]
  4. Extortion; the misappropriation of public wealth.[8][16][14]
  5. (hyperbolic) An excessive price, a rip-off: Dieci euro per un caffè? È una rapina![8][16][13]
  6. Of animals, hunting other animals for food: uccelli di rapina, birds of prey.[8][13][7][14]
  7. (literary) The violent force of wind or water that sweeps things along.[8][13][7]
  8. (archaic) abduction, especially of a woman.[8][7][14]
  9. (football) Gol di rapina: a goal scored by quickly exploiting an opponent's mistake.[16][7][17]

Word family

  • rapinare
  • rapinatore
  • rapinoso
  • antirapina

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3208
  6. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 824
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 455
  13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  16. ^ 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
  17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli