ringraziare

Forms

ringraziare (first-person singular present ringràzio, first-person singular past historic ringraziài, past participle ringraziàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian rengraziare, Old Italian rengraciare, Old Italian ringrazare and Old Italian ringratiare.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from grazie (“thanks”), the plural of grazia, with the prefixes ri-, which here means giving back, and in-, which marks a movement towards; the verb ending is -are.^[4][5][6][1] Zingarelli analyses it as ⟨r(i)-⟩ added to the old verb Old Italian ingraziare, while Nocentini and Devoto–Oli speak of the single prefix rin-.^[3][7][8] The GDLI takes the ⟨re-⟩ as intensive.^[2] ⟨Grazia⟩ is Latin grātia (“favour; thanks”), from grātus (“pleasing; grateful”).^[4]

Körting observes that only in French and in Occitan is “to thank” expressed with a verb from Latin mercēs (“reward; mercy”), as in French remercier: Italian uses a derivative of ⟨gratia⟩, as do Spanish agradecer and Portuguese agradecer.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the verb before 1226 and Zingarelli about 1224.^[5][3] DELI's first dated record, in the sense “to express gratitude, to give thanks to someone for something”, is Bono Giamboni's Libro de' Vizi e delle Virtudi, before 1292.^[4][10]

Semantic evolution

An early lyric thanks a “donna valente” for having taken the poet's eyes and heart, and Fra Giordano asks his listeners whether they would not give thanks for a second gift.^[2] In Paradiso 10 Beatrice tells Dante “ringrazia, / ringrazia il Sol de li angeli”, and Petrarch, in sonnet 289, thanks Laura for the high counsel that made him think of his salvation.^[11][2] The noun ringraziamento is recorded in Domenico Cavalca, before 1342, and its plural “words or tokens of thanks” in the Motti e facezie del Piovano Arlotto, before 1484.^[4] Old Italian also used the infinitive as a noun, i debiti ringraziari.^[12]

Modern usage adds the polite refusal (la ringrazio, ma...), the ironic use for an unwelcome favour and the formulas of relief ringraziare Dio and ringraziare il cielo.^[5][8][13] French slang of 1821 borrowed the word as rengracier “to give in”, and later army slang used it for deserting.^[10]

Timeline

• Before 1226 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ringraziare “to thank”.^[4]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ringraziamento.^[4]
• Before 1484 – The plural ringraziamenti appears in the Piovano Arlotto.^[4]
• 1821 – French slang rengracier “to give in” is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To thank, to express gratitude to someone in words or deeds: Le ho scritto per ringraziarla dei fiori.^[5][8][14]
2. In polite formulas, to decline an offer or invitation: Ti ringrazio, ma stasera non posso.^[5][14][15]
3. (ironic) To “thank” someone for something unwelcome.^[8][13][15]
4. ringraziare Dio, il cielo: an expression of relief that something went well or that a danger was avoided.^[5][8][15]
5. To be grateful to a thing or circumstance for a lucky outcome: Ringrazia il casco, che ti ha salvato la testa.^[5][8][14]
6. (religion) To give thanks to God, the Virgin or the saints for graces received.^[5]

Word family

• ringraziamento

Related words

• grazia
• grazie
• Latin gratia
• French remercier

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, p. 16, 554
3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 373
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 555
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana