rasare

Forms

rasare (first-person singular present ràso, first-person singular past historic rasài, past participle rasàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rāsāre, a verb formed from Latin rāsus (“shaven, scraped”), the past participle of rādō (“to scrape, shave”).^[2][3][1][4] GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli call it an intensive of radere, and the GDLI a frequentative.^[4][5][6][7] The Treccani instead derives it within Italian from raso, the participle used as an adjective.^[8]

The same verb is French raser, Occitan razar, Catalan rasar, Spanish rasar and Portuguese rasar.^[3][7] The Latin verb has cognates in Welsh rhathu and Breton rahein (“to scrape, shave”), which point to a Proto-Celtic verb meaning “to scrape, scratch”.^[9] From the same participle came Late Latin rāsōrium, recorded from the 4th century, the source of rasoio.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and GRADIT date the verb to 1598, in Florio's dictionary, meaning to cut the hair off with a razor.^[2][4] Prati also cites Oudin for the sense “to level by removing what sticks out”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The verb was slow to win acceptance: Lissoni in 1831 called it new and unwanted, and the Tommaseo dictionary of 1872 explained that it says more than plain radere, since to rasare the head is to shave all of it.^[2][11] The sense “to make even by removing what sticks out” is recorded before 1798 in Francesco Milizia, and the Tommaseo has rasare le siepi, to trim hedges, and rasare lo staio, to level a measure of grain with the strickle.^[2][11]

It also meant to raze a fortification or a town, a sense the GDLI quotes from Duodo, Algarotti and later writers down to Tozzi.^[7][8] The reflexive rasarsi “to shave oneself” is recorded in 1891, and in the everyday sense “to shave one's beard” in 1959;^[2] rasare a zero, to crop the hair to the scalp, often as a punishment, was entered in the Zingarelli in 1970.^[2] The participle rasato was used of a very smooth fabric before 1582, in T. Rinuccini, and later named such a fabric, with the diminutive rasatello (1942).^[2]

Timeline

• 1598 – Florio's dictionary records rasare “to shave with a razor”.^[2][4]
• Before 1798 – Francesco Milizia uses it for levelling a surface.^[2]
• 1831 – Lissoni calls the verb new and unwanted.^[2]
• 1872 – The Tommaseo dictionary has rasare le siepi.^[2]
• 1891 – Reflexive rasarsi “to shave oneself” is recorded.^[2]
• 1959 – Rasarsi “to shave one's beard” is recorded.^[2]
• 1970 – Rasare a zero is entered in the Zingarelli.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shave, to cut hair or beard off with a razor down to the skin: rasare la nuca al bambino.^{[4][5][12][6]}
2. To make smooth or even by removing what sticks out; to trim a hedge or mow a lawn: rasare il prato davanti a casa.^[4][5][13]
3. To level the contents of a measure or vessel at the rim, with a strickle.^[4][5][8]
4. (uncommon) To raze, to level to the ground.^[4][8]
5. (reflexive, rasarsi) To shave oneself;^[6][12][13] (colloquial) to shave one's beard.^[6][12][13]

Word family

• rasato
• rasatura
• rasatore
• rasatrice
• rasatello
• rasamento

Related words

• radere
• raso
• rasoio
• rasura
• rasente
• rasentare
• French raser
• Latin rādō

Usage notes

The verb is pronounced with either a voiceless or a voiced s: /raˈsare/ or /raˈzare/.^[5][1] Rasare a zero means to crop the hair to the scalp.^[6][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 499
8. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 824
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli