ricetto

Forms

ricetto m (plural ricetti)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin receptus (“retreat; refuge”), the noun formed on recipiō (“to take back, receive”), whose past participle has the same form.^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} Besides the concrete sense “refuge, shelter” the Latin noun had the abstract sense “withdrawal, retreat”;^[5][7] DEI notes the sense “refuge” already in Virgil.^[5][7] DELI treats the Italian noun as a deverbal of ricettare, whose old sense “to receive, take in” it keeps.^[8]

Zingarelli calls the word learned, and DEI thinks it probably not purely popular, perhaps passed on through Old French recet and Old Occitan recet.^[9][7] Meyer-Lübke and Prati start instead from Vulgar Latin *receptum (“place of refuge”), which REW also sees in the Old French and Old Occitan nouns.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word to before 1313, in the old form recetto.^[2][3] DELI places this record in Dante, while noting that some read his recetto as the past participle of recepere;^[8][9] Zingarelli dates the word to 1266.^[8][9] The first sure record of the sense “place of refuge” is in Boccaccio (1348–1353), whose traveller looks round se dattorno alcuno ricetto si vedesse, dove la notte potesse stare (“to see if there was any shelter about where he could spend the night”).^[8][12]

Semantic evolution

In Petrarch the word is a dwelling or retreat: quante fïate al mio dolce ricetto (“how many times to my sweet refuge”).^[12][9] Tommaseo gives the variant raccetto, and Varchi used the word for a room between the staircase and the hall.^[12][11]

The figurative sense “hospitality, welcome” is now the usual one, in phrases such as dare ricetto and trovare ricetto.^[3][13] Historians and geographers use the word for the walled villages with towers where country people took refuge in times of danger, typical of Piedmont, where the one at Candelo is still well preserved.^[5][4]

Timeline

• Before 1313 – Recetto is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ricetto for a place of refuge.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) shelter, refuge; a place where one lodges, stays or hides; a dwelling.^[3][9][5][1]
2. (figurative) Welcome, hospitality: dare ricetto, trovare ricetto.^[3][13][4]
3. (history) A medieval group of houses enclosed by towered walls, where the people of the countryside took refuge in danger, typical of Piedmont.^[3][4][5]
4. (archaic, literary) A place or space that holds something; a receptacle.^[5][14]

Related words

• ricettare
• ricettacolo
• ricevere
• Latin receptus
• Old French recet

Usage notes

Ricetto is also the first person singular present of ricettare.^[15][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3248
8. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 837
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org