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Etymology and origin of the Italian word rendere

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1219, Breve di Montieri
Inherited from
Latin *rendo
Ultimate origin
Latin dō

Pronunciation

  • /ˈrɛn.de.re/[1]

Forms

rendere (first-person singular present rèndo, first-person singular past historic rési, past participle réso, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms include rendare, rennere and renzere, and the old past participle is renduto.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rendō (“to give back”), a spoken form of Latin reddō (“to give back, restore”).[4][5][1] The Latin verb is made of red- (“back”) and dō (“to give”).[6][4] The /nd/ is explained by the influence of verbs such as prehendō (“to take”), pendō (“to weigh”) and vendō (“to sell”);[6][4][5] DELI, following Eduard Schwyzer (1934), prefers this to a dissimilation of /dd/, and notes the same intrusion in French rendre.[6][4][5] Wiktionary adds that the past participle ⟨reso⟩ and the past historic ⟨resi⟩ were shaped after ⟨preso⟩ and ⟨presi⟩ from prendere.[1]

The nasal form is Occitan rendre, Spanish rendir and Portuguese render, while forms without it survive in Old Occitan redre and Catalan retre.[7][4]

The noun rendita continues the Latin neuter plural reddita, brought into line with the verb; it is the counterpart of rente.[6][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Breve di Montieri of 1219, in the form rendare, for giving back what one has received;[6][5] rendere itself is in Guittone d'Arezzo before 1294.[6][5] GDLI quotes the Breve: “di rendare e renunziare in mano del camarlengo” (to give back and hand over to the treasurer).[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to give” appears early in the 13th century in Uguccione da Lodi, and “to yield, produce” in the Novellino.[6] Iacopone da Todi urged heirs to give back ill-gotten gains: “rennete / lo maltolletto”.[2] Dante uses the verb for depicting or expressing something (1313–1319), for emitting, and reflexively for going to a place;[6] Boccaccio (1348–1353) for making someone or something become.[6]

The sense “to translate” is recorded by Tommaseo in 1872, who added that although French uses it too it is not a Gallicism;[6] “to give good results” follows in 1891.[6] Derivatives include resa “surrender” (before 1565) and resoconto “report”, modelled on compte rendu.[6][4]

Timeline

  • 1219 – The Breve di Montieri has rendare.[6]
  • Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses it for giving.[6]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo has rendere.[6]
  • Late 13th century – The Novellino uses it for yielding a profit.[6]
  • 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for depicting and expressing.[6]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for making someone become.[6]
  • Before 1565 – Resa “surrender” is recorded.[6]
  • 1872 – Tommaseo records the sense “to translate”.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give back, return: Mi ha reso le chiavi solo stamattina.[5][3][1]
  2. To return, repay a favour, a greeting or a wrong: rendere il saluto.[5][3]
  3. To give, pay, offer: rendere omaggio, rendere testimonianza.[5][8]
  4. To yield, be profitable: Quel negozio non rende più.[5][8][1]
  5. Of a person, to perform well in an activity.[5]
  6. To make, cause to become: La notizia l'ha reso felice.[5][8][1]
  7. To express, convey, render; to translate: rendere l'idea.[8][6][1]
  8. (literary) To emit a sound.[8][6]

Word family

  • rendita
  • rendimento
  • rendiconto
  • rendicontare
  • resa
  • resoconto
  • arrendersi
  • arrendevole
  • arrendevolezza

Usage notes

The past historic is resi (literary rendei, rendetti) and the past participle reso.[3][9] Set phrases include a buon rendere, said when accepting a favour, rendere l'anima a Dio “to die”, rendere pan per focaccia “to pay back in kind”, rendersi conto “to realize” and vuoto a rendere “returnable bottle”.[5][9][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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, 798
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 m n o p q r s t u v Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Rendere.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/rendere. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·