rimanere

Forms

rimanere (first-person singular present rimàngo, first-person singular past historic rimàsi, past participle rimàsto, first-person singular future rimarrò, auxiliary èssere)^[1] The old past participle is rimaso, from Latin remansum, and rimasto was formed on the participles in -to.^[2][3] Old Italian also has the present rimagno, and Guido Cavalcanti writes rimagnàn “we remain”.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin remaneō (“to stay behind, remain”), from re- (“back”) and maneō (“to stay”).^[2][5][1][6] DELI calls it a learned word, but the verb continues in most Romance languages: Old French remaindre, Old Occitan remanre, Old Spanish remanir and Romanian rămâne, and Spanish remanecer and Portuguese remanecer are derived from it.^{[4][2][6][7][8]} In Latin the prefix pointed to staying behind while others leave.^[4]

Latin ⟨maneō⟩ continues Proto-Italic ⟨*m(o)n-ē-⟩ and Proto-Indo-European *mn-eh₁- (“to remain”), a stative verb.^[9] Its closest relatives are Ancient Greek μένω (ménō, “to stay”) and Old Armenian մնամ (mnam, “to stay, wait”).^[9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, and in Guido Cavalcanti, before 1300, in the sense “to stay, remain”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates the sense “to stay in a place” to Iacopone (before 1306), “to last, persist” to Giordano da Pisa (before 1311), and “to be situated” and “to survive” to Dante.^[4] “To be left over” and “to agree” appear in the 14th century.^[4]

In the 19th century the verb used absolutely came to mean “to be dumbfounded”, recorded in 1863, and colloquial rimanerci means to be taken aback and also to die.^[4][3] From the old participle rimaso came rimasuglio “leftover”, with the collective suffix -uglio.^[4][2]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses rimanere.^[4]
• 1278–1279 – Rimanente “remainder” appears in a testament.^[4]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses the verb for staying in a place.^[4]
• 14th century – Rimanenza and rimasuglio are first recorded.^[4][2]
• 1863 – Fanfani records the absolute sense “to be dumbfounded”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stay in a place, not leave: Stasera rimango a casa.^[5][10][11]
2. To remain in a position, state or office, with a predicative: rimanere seduto, Il museo rimane chiuso il lunedì.^[5][10]
3. To end up in a condition, often suddenly: rimanere senza lavoro, rimanere a bocca aperta.^[5][3]
4. To be left over: Mi sono rimasti dieci euro.^[5][11]
5. To last, endure: Il suo nome rimarrà.^[5][11]
6. To have got to a certain point: A che punto eravamo rimasti?^[5][10][12]
7. Of a secret, to go no further: Che rimanga tra noi.^[5][10]
8. To agree, arrange: Allora come rimaniamo per sabato?^[5][12]
9. (colloquial) To be located: Scusi, dove rimane l'ospedale?^[11][12]

Word family

• rimanente
• rimanenza
• rimasuglio
• rimanerci

Related words

• rimanersi
• restare
• permanere
• Latin remaneo

Usage notes

The auxiliary is essere.^[1][3] Rimanere and restare are largely synonymous.^[1][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3254
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana