reclamare

Forms

reclamare (first-person singular present reclàmo, first-person singular past historic reclamài, past participle reclamàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin reclāmō (“to cry out against, protest”), formed with re- and clāmō (“to shout”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} In classical Latin the verb meant “to call out in response”, and DELI points to the Latin chronicle of Salimbene of Parma (1281–1288), where it already means “to protest”.^[6][2]

The same Latin verb gave French réclamer and Spanish reclamar.^[3] Treccani and Sabatini–Coletti add that the Italian use followed the example of the French verb.^[7][8] The noun reclamo replaced Latin reclāmātiō in Italian, and DELI sees no need to derive it, as Zaccaria did, from the Spanish noun of the same form.^[2]

De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *klh₁-m(o)-.^[9] The inherited Italian form of the simple verb is chiamare.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machiavelli is the first to use the verb in Italian, in 1513, intransitively: “to protest with complaints”.^[2][4] Tommaseo quotes him: dove non è giudizio a chi reclamare, si guarda al fine (“where there is no court to appeal to, one looks at the outcome”).^[10]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb meant protesting against a wrong to whoever had the power to put it right, and the disused form riclamare appears beside it.^[11] Florio's dictionary of 1598 still sent the reader to richiamare for its many senses.^[2]

The transitive sense “to demand forcefully what one is owed” is recorded in 1667, in V. Siri.^[2] The figurative sense “to need”, said of things, appears in the Milanese press in 1819, and purists rejected it as a Gallicism.^[2] Its participle reclamante dates from 1583, and the noun reclamo from 1600–1603.^[2]

Today the intransitive verb takes avere and is built with contro, presso, per or a to name the wrong or the office complained to.^[12][4]

Timeline

• 1281–1288 – Salimbene of Parma uses Latin reclamavit for “protested”.^[2]
• 1513 – Machiavelli uses reclamare for “to protest”.^[2][4]
• 1583 – Reclamante is first recorded, in F. Sassetti.^[2]
• 1598 – Florio refers the reader to richiamare.^[2]
• 1600–1603 – The noun reclamo is first recorded.^[2]
• 1667 – V. Siri uses the verb for “to demand forcefully”.^[2]
• 1819 – The Milanese press uses it for “to need”, a sense purists rejected.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To claim or demand something as one's due: reclamare il rimborso delle spese.^[4][12][8]
2. (transitive, figurative) Of things, to need urgently: il prato reclama una falciatura.^[4][12][5]
3. (intransitive) To complain or protest about a wrong to the person or office responsible: ho reclamato presso il negozio per il pacco danneggiato.^[4][12][7]

Word family

• reclamo
• reclamante
• reclamazione
• reclamabile

Related words

• reclame
• chiamare
• richiamare
• French réclamer

Usage notes

Reclamare is conjugated with avere.^[1][12] The verb richiamare once had the sense “to complain” too.^[2][10]

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 p 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 651
12. ^ 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