reagire

Forms

reagire (first-person singular present reagìsco, first-person singular past historic reagìi, past participle reagìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin reagō (“to drive back”), a Late Latin verb first used by Avienus in the 4th century, with its conjugation and stress remade on agire.^[2][3][4] The Late Latin verb lived on in the Medieval Latin of the Schoolmen, and, from the 17th century both the Italian verb and French réagir spread through the language of philosophers and scientists.^[3][2] In 1784 a French critic still used the verb of the relation between writers and their public with the remark that he was speaking “the modern language”.^[2]

The sources weigh the routes differently: DEI calls the Italian verb a Gallicism spread by Voltaire,^[5] the GDLI allows for French influence on an Italian formation,^[6] and Devoto–Oli, Zingarelli, Treccani and Gabrielli simply analyse it as a derivative of that verb with the prefix re-.^{[7][8][9][10][1]}

The Latin verb is agō (“to drive, do”) with the prefix re-.^[3] The simple verb continues Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive, lead”), the root of Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō) and Sanskrit अजति (ájati).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Melchiorre Cesarotti, who died in 1808, for acting against something, answering a force or an offence with an action of one's own.^[2] In a passage the GDLI quotes, Cesarotti explains riflettere as “to fold back and react upon the objects or ideas that strike us” (ripiegarsi e reagire sopra gli oggetti o le idee che ci colpiscono).^[6] The chemical sense, to take part in a reaction, follows in 1844 in the Milanese press.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1872 Tommaseo complained that the verb was overused, because the physical sciences had invaded the realm of the mind; he also preferred reagire to the older riagire, whose prefix seemed to him to suggest repetition.^[12][2] The noun reazione is older than the verb: it is recorded before 1348 in Jacopo Alighieri and was formed on azione.^[2][3]

Several derivatives came through French in the 18th and 19th centuries.^[2] reazionario (1841) copies French réactionnaire, coined in 1796 after révolutionnaire, and reattore reflects réacteur; it took on new life as a jet engine in 1952 and as a nuclear reactor in 1955 under English influence.^[2][3] The chemist's reagente is recorded from 1804.^[2]

Today the verb is used most of a person who answers an offence or faces a hardship, and of an organism that responds to a stimulus or to treatment;^[13][7][4] Devoto–Oli also records a sporting sense, to answer an opponent's attack by attacking.^[13][7][4]

Timeline

• 1766 – Zingarelli's date for reagire.^[8]
• 1785 – Nocentini's and Devoto–Oli's date for the verb.^[3][7]
• Before 1808 – Melchiorre Cesarotti uses reagire, the first record in DELI.^[2]
• 1841 – Reazionario appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1844 – The chemical sense is recorded.^[2]
• 1872 – Tommaseo's dictionary criticises the overuse of the verb.^[12][13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To respond with an action of one's own to an offence, a violence or a provocation, trying to resist it; also used without an object: Lo hanno insultato, ma lui non ha reagito.^[13][7][8]
2. To face pain, grief or a hardship actively, without giving in: Dopo la sconfitta la squadra ha saputo reagire.^[13][4][10]
3. Of an organ or organism, to respond to a stimulus or to treatment: La ferita non reagisce alla cura.^[13][7][9]
4. (sport) To answer an opponent's action by attacking.^[7]
5. (physics) Of a force, to act in the opposite direction to another force.^[13][7]
6. (chemistry) To take part in a chemical reaction.^[13][7][4]

Word family

• reazione
• reagente
• reattivo
• reattività
• reattore
• reazionario
• reattanza

Related words

• agire
• azione
• French réagir

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 m 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 e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3215
6. ^ 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, 601
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ 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