ricordare

Forms

ricordare (first-person singular present ricòrdo, first-person singular past historic ricordài, past participle ricordàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recordor (“to call to mind”), a learned word in DELI's view.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is derived from cor (“heart”) with the prefix re- “back”: the heart was thought to be the seat of memory, so the verb meant “to put back into the heart”.^[2][3][5][6] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of the Latin noun, recorded from Plautus on.^[7]

The verb also lived on in popular form: DEI points to Lombard regordà in Lombardy, the source of Romansh algordér in the Engadine, and to Spanish recordar, Portuguese recordar and Sardinian regordare.^[8] Prati derives the Italian word itself from such a popular form, following Meyer-Lübke.^[9] The verb is Old French recorder in Old French too.^[3]

The noun ricordanza continues Late Latin recordantia, a derivative, found in St Ambrose in the 4th century.^[2][3] Old forms of the verb include Old Italian recordare and Old Italian raccordare.^[10][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pronominal ricordarsi “to keep in memory” is recorded at the beginning of the 13th century in Sordello, and the transitive verb “to recall to one's own or another's mind” in the first half of the century in Giacomino Pugliese.^[2] The sense “to mention, name” appears in the 13th century in Compagnetto da Prato.^[2] GRADIT and Nocentini date the word to before 1292.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

A 14th-century translation of Seneca defines the word: “ricordare si è quando la cosa è data a guardare alla memoria” (remembering is when a thing is given to the memory to keep).^[2][11] Dante used it for keeping in memory, and Boccaccio, in 1348–1353, for renewing a memory; he also wrote the old form: “vel volli staman raccordare” (I wanted to remind you of it this morning).^[2][10]

The noun ricordo, a back-formation from the verb, is recorded before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca, and a document from Pomarance already has essere ai ricordi “to be remembered” in 1306.^[2] Its diminutive ricordino was a cheap ring given as a keepsake (before 1767, Iacopo Nelli), and later a small holy card in memory of a dead person (1963).^[2] Scordare “to forget” was made in the 14th century by changing the prefix.^[3]

Modern Italian also uses ricordare for commemorating the dead and for resembling, calling something to mind by likeness.^[4][12]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Sordello uses ricordarsi “to remember”.^[2]
• First half of the 13th century – Giacomino Pugliese uses ricordare “to bring to mind”.^[2]
• 13th century – Compagnetto da Prato has the sense “to mention”.^[2]
• 1306 – Essere ai ricordi appears in a document from Pomarance.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses the noun ricordo.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses the verb for renewing a memory.^[2]
• Before 1767 – Ricordino is recorded for a keepsake ring.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To remember, keep in memory; also pronominal ricordarsi (di): Ricordo ancora la prima volta che vidi il mare.^[4][5][12]
2. To try to bring back to mind, recall.^[4][5][13]
3. To remind someone of something: Ti ricordo che domani si parte presto.^[4][12][14]
4. To mention, name.^[4][5][15]
5. To commemorate: ricordare le vittime di una guerra.^[4][12]
6. To call to mind by likeness, resemble: Questa piazza ricorda un quadro di De Chirico.^[4][12][15]

Word family

• ricordo
• ricordanza
• ricordino
• scordare
• ricordevole

Related words

• cuore
• rammentare
• Latin recordor
• Spanish recordar

Usage notes

Ricordare and ricordarsi are both used for “to remember”: ricordo la strada, mi ricordo la strada and mi ricordo della strada.^[5][14][15] Tommaseo records a separate rare verb ricordare “to restring (an instrument)”, from corda.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 370
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3249
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 837
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 143
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana