Etymologically
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ricevere

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Pronunciation

  • /riˈt͡ʃe.ve.re/[1]

Forms

ricevere (first-person singular present ricévo, first-person singular past historic ricevétti or (traditional) ricevètti or ricevéi, past participle ricevùto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms include Old Italian recevere, Old Italian recévare, Old Italian reciévere, Old Italian recìvere and Old Italian ricéere, and the past historic ricévvi.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin recipiō (“to take back; receive, admit”), formed from capiō (“to take”) with the prefix re- (“back”).[3][4][5][1] DELI calls the Italian forms partly learned and partly popular, and points to the northern change of /p/ to /v/ between vowels.[3] DEI notes that the verb belongs to Tuscany, Umbria and Rome and to Alpine Lombardy, is replaced by Lombard ciapà in Trentino, Brescia and Bergamo, and must have come from northern Italy because of the voiced consonant;[6][1] Wiktionary also suggests a loan from a Gallo-Italic dialect.[6][1]

The Latin verb, much used by Christian writers of the 3rd century, has popular outcomes across western Romance: French recevoir, Occitan recebre, Catalan rebre, Spanish recibir and Portuguese receber.[6][4][7] In the 14th century it is rechipiri in Sicily.[6] The learned doublet is recepire.[5][1]

The simple verb capiō goes back to Proto-Italic *kapiō and is related to Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan, “to lift”); de Vaan leaves open whether its root was Indo-European, Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-, or borrowed from a non-Indo-European source.[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Nocentini date the verb to the second half of the 12th century.[5][4] DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni's Libro de' Vizî e delle Virtudi, before 1292, for accepting what is given, sent or solemnly conferred;[3] Giamboni also uses it for admitting someone to one's presence.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb took on the senses “to collect (money)”, in the notebook of a Pisan merchant early in the century, and “to suffer, undergo” in Boccaccio (1348–1353).[3] Salimbene (1281–1288) quotes a vernacular proverb with the latter sense: “L'asen dà per la paré: botta dà, botta receve” (the donkey kicks the wall: it gives a blow and gets a blow).[3] The senses “to admit (a person)” (Domenico Cavalca, before 1342), “to welcome on arrival” (Giovanni Villani, before 1348) and “to hold, contain” (c. 1350) followed.[3]

The intransitive use “to hold a reception, see visitors” was condemned as an error by Lissoni in 1831.[3] The sense “to pick up (radio or telephone signals)” is recorded in 1959.[3] Among the derivatives, ricevuta “receipt” was taken from the formula of acknowledgment dichiaro di aver ricevuta la somma di… (I declare I have received the sum of…), a calque of the Latin cognosco me recepisse.[3] Ricevimento meant a reception of guests from 1675 and a party from 1872, and ricetrasmettitore, a radio transceiver, is of 1963.[3]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 12th century – Ricevere is first recorded.[5][4]
  • 1281–1288 – Salimbene quotes a vernacular proverb with receve.[3]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for accepting and for admitting a person.[3]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses ricevitore.[3]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for undergoing a hurt.[3]
  • 1831 – Lissoni condemns its intransitive use “to receive visitors”.[3]
  • 1959 – The sense “to pick up signals” is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To receive, get something that is given, sent or conferred: Ho ricevuto il tuo messaggio solo stamattina.[5][9][10]
  2. To suffer or undergo something unpleasant, such as a wrong or a blow: Ha ricevuto un colpo in testa.[5][10]
  3. To draw or get a benefit or effect from something.[5]
  4. To be exposed to (wind, light): La cucina riceve poca luce.[5]
  5. To welcome someone, admit them to one's presence: Ci ricevettero con grande cortesia.[5][9][10]
  6. To see visitors or clients, also without an object: L'avvocato riceve solo su appuntamento.[5][10]
  7. To pick up a radio, television or telephone signal.[5][10][1]

Word family

  • ricevuta
  • ricevimento
  • ricevente
  • ricevitore
  • ricevitoria
  • ricezione
  • ricetrasmettitore
  • ricevibile
  • recettore
  • ricetta
  • ricettare
  • ricetto
  • ricettivo
  • recepire
  • Latin recipiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 76
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3248
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse