ricrescere

Forms

ricrescere (first-person singular present ricrésco, first-person singular past historic ricrébbi, past participle ricresciùto, auxiliary (intransitive) èssere or (transitive) avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian ri- + crescere, with the prefix of repetition, as DELI, Nocentini, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani explain it.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Zingarelli and the GDLI instead treat it as a learned word taken from Latin recrēscō (“to grow again”), formed with re- and crēscō (“to grow”).^[8][9] Wiktionary allows for the Latin verb behind the Italian formation as well.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1308 and GRADIT to before 1320.^[8][4] DELI's first record is in the vernacular translation of Crescenzi of about 1350, with the sense “to grow again”.^[2] The text compares bark to skin: as in animals the hide that has been flayed off does not grow back without a large scar, so it is with the bark of plants (la parte del cuojo scorticata, e levata via, non ricresce sanza grande margine e segno).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The same translation has the dialect sense “to swell, to grow larger in volume”.^[2] A transitive use, “to increase further, to make more numerous”, is recorded before 1363 in Villani, who writes that every month the enemy had equipped and enlarged their companies (aveano fornite e ricresciute le loro masnade).^[2][9] Cellini used the verb for enlarging a model to full size, keeping the proportions.^[9][10]

Today the word is used of hair, beards and grass that grow back, and figuratively of things such as inflation that rise again.^[7][4] In southern Italy it also means to swell, said of pasta or rice in cooking, and pizza ricresciuta is pizza that has risen.^[5][8][7] The noun ricrescita, the act of growing again, is recorded from 1872.^[2]

Timeline

• 1308 – First record of ricrescere.^[8]
• About 1350 – The vernacular translation of Crescenzi uses it for “to grow again” and “to swell”.^[2]
• Before 1363 – Villani uses it transitively, “to increase further”.^[2]
• 1872 – Ricrescita is recorded by Tommaseo and Bellini.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To grow again, to regrow: Dopo il taglio corto, la frangia le è ricresciuta in un mese.^[4][5][6][8]
2. (intransitive, regional, chiefly southern) To swell, to grow larger in volume, as pasta or rice in cooking: Questo tipo di riso ricresce molto in pentola.^[4][5][8][7]
3. (transitive, uncommon) To make grow again; to increase further.^[4][5][6][1]

Word family

• ricrescita
• ricrescimento

Related words

• crescere
• accrescere
• Latin recrēscō

Usage notes

As an intransitive verb it takes essere in compound tenses, as a transitive verb avere; it is conjugated like crescere.^[1][8][5] The GDLI also records ricrescere as a variant of rincrescere, and Tommaseo an obsolete variant raccrescere.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET