Etymologically
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recuperare

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Pronunciation

  • /re.ku.peˈra.re/[1]

Forms

recuperare (first-person singular present recùpero, first-person singular past historic recuperài, past participle recuperàto, auxiliary avére)[1] The variant ricuperare is also used.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recuperō (“to regain, to get back”), a learned word taken from Latin in the sense “to come back into possession”.[4][5][6][1] Sabatini–Coletti calls it the learned counterpart of ricoverare, which continues the same Latin verb by the popular route.[3][4] Meyer-Lübke traces the popular verb to Old Occitan recobrar (“to recover”); the verb's popular outcomes elsewhere are Old French recovrer, Catalan recobrar, Spanish recobrar and Portuguese recobrar.[7] The learned type is shared by French récupérer and Spanish recuperar.[4]

The Latin verb is a compound of re- (“back, again”) with a verb related to capiō (“to take”).[5][6][3] Devoto–Oli derives it from an unattested intensive *caperāre of the same verb.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record dates from before 1306, in the sense of getting back into one's possession something lost or taken away.[5][2][4] Battisti and Alessio cite Boccaccio for the verb.[8]

Semantic evolution

From getting back a possession the verb passed to recovering a faculty or a condition, such as sight, strength or a friendship.[5][2][6] A religious sense “to redeem” (a soul) is now obsolete.[5][6] In the 19th century the usual form was ricuperare: Tommaseo–Bellini marks recuperare as obsolete and sends the reader to the other form,[9] and Treccani still treats the word and its derivatives under ricuperare.[10]

The modern dictionaries add senses of the industrial and welfare state: reusing waste materials such as paper and glass, reclaiming land or rundown city centres, and bringing a drug addict or a former prisoner back into society.[5][6][3] In sport and on the railways the verb means to make up lost time or a gap, and the referee who adds stoppage time fa recuperare the minutes lost.[6][3] Its deverbal noun recupero is recorded from the 18th century.[4]

Timeline

  • Before 1306 – Recuperare is first recorded.[5][2]
  • 14th century – Recuperatore, from Latin recuperator, is recorded.[4]
  • 16th century – Recuperabile, recuperatorio and recuperazione appear.[4][8]
  • 18th century – The noun recupero appears.[4]
  • 1959 – Recuperabilità is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To recover, to get back something lost, stolen or invested: Ho recuperato le chiavi che avevo perso.[5][2][6]
  2. (figurative) To regain a faculty or a relationship: sight, strength, calm, someone's trust.[5][2][3]
  3. To rescue or bring to safety; to raise a wreck or retrieve people lost at sea.[5][6][3]
  4. To rehabilitate, bring a disabled or marginalised person back into society and work.[5][3][6]
  5. To reuse waste or scrap; to make land or buildings usable again.[5][3][6]
  6. To make up lost time or a disadvantage, also without an object: La squadra ha recuperato nel secondo tempo.[5][3][6]
  7. To hold later something that was missed, such as a lesson or a match.[3]
  8. To revive an idea or a project.[5]
  9. (nautical) To haul aboard.[2]
  10. (obsolete) To redeem.[5][6]

Word family

  • recuperabile
  • recuperatore
  • recupero
  • recuperabilità
  • recuperativo
  • recuperatorio
  • recuperazione
  • ricoverare
  • ricuperare
  • Latin recuperō
  • Latin capiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3219
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 4, 106
  10. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana