rilasciare

Forms

rilasciare (first-person singular present rilàscio, first-person singular past historic rilasciài, past participle rilasciàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms include relassare, relaxare, relasciare and rilassare.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin relaxō (“to loosen, release; to relieve”), reshaped after lasciare (“to leave, let go”).^[3][4][5][2] The Latin verb is formed from laxō (“to loosen, slacken”) with the prefix re- (“back, again”).^[4][1][6] Sabatini–Coletti calls the verb the popular word beside the learned rilassare, from the same Latin verb.^[7][4][8]

Some dictionaries explain the sense “to leave again” as formed anew in Italian, from Italian ri- + lasciare;^[9][7][10] GRADIT dates that sense from 1598 and lists it under a separate heading.^[9][7][10] Wiktionary takes the whole verb from ri- and lasciare, with the sense “to relax” borrowed from Latin.^[1] Treccani attributes the sense “to put a new product on the market” to English release.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the statute of the Wool Guild of Siena of 1298–1309, in the sense “to set free”: no outlaw may be relassato, released from his ban, before he has paid his creditor.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Lives of the Desert Fathers, in the 14th century, use the verb for loosening or relaxing, and the old language also had “to forgive, remit” and “to give up”, both now obsolete.^[3][12][9] The sense “to leave again” is recorded in Perugian documents of 1410.^[3]

The office sense “to issue, hand over” a document appears in Lorenzo Magalotti before 1712;^[3][4][9] Tommaseo and Bellini still condemned it in 1872 as improper, but it is now the commonest use, together with rilasciare un'intervista, “to give an interview”.^[3][4][9] In medicine and physiology it is used for relaxing muscles and for glands or cells releasing hormones or neurotransmitters.^[9][10] The reflexive rilasciarsi “to split up again”, of a couple, is recorded from 1959.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 1298–1309 – The Siena wool statute uses the verb for “to release”.^[3]
• 1355 – Rilasciamento is recorded.^[3]
• 1410 – Rilasciare “to leave again” appears in Perugian documents.^[3]
• Before 1465 – Filarete uses rilascio.^[3]
• Before 1712 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses the verb for “to issue, hand over”.^[3]
• 1959 – Reflexive rilasciarsi “to split up again” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To release, to set free a prisoner or hostage: Il sospettato è stato rilasciato in serata.^[9][5][7]
2. To issue and hand over a document: Il comune rilascia la carta d'identità.^[9][5][7]
3. To give an interview or a statement: Il ministro non ha rilasciato commenti.^[9][5][7]
4. To relax muscles or nerves.^[9][5][7]
5. (physiology) To release a substance such as a hormone.^[9][10]
6. To leave again; to leave behind again: Ho rilasciato l'ombrello in treno.^[9][5][12]
7. (nautical) Of a ship, to put into port because of bad weather or damage.^[11][7]
8. (obsolete) To forgive, remit.^[9][5][12]

Word family

• rilasciamento
• rilascio
• rilasciabile

Related words

• rilassare
• lasciare
• Latin relaxō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 16, 353
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli