riporre

Forms

riporre (first-person singular present ripóngo, first-person singular past historic ripósi, past participle ripósto or ripòsto, first-person singular imperfect riponévo, auxiliary avére)^[1] An older form Old Italian riponere stays closer to the Latin infinitive, and Old Italian also wrote reporre.^[2][3][4] The GDLI lists further old and regional forms such as Old Italian repónere, Old Italian repùnere and Old Italian ripógnere.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin repōnō (“to put back; to store away; to bury”), formed from pōnō (“to put down, place”) with the prefix re-.^[6][7][1][8] DELI analyses the Italian verb instead as ri- and porre, with the prefix of repetition, and allows that it sometimes imitated the Latin verb.^[9] Wiktionary also notes that the word can be analysed in the same way on the surface.^[1]

The Latin verb survives in Old French repondre and Old Occitan reponre, which meant “to bury”, and in Romanian răpune “to defeat; to kill”.^[6][10] The Spanish reponer and the Portuguese repor are recent formations.^[6] Sicilian has ripùniri.^[1]

De Vaan derives pōnō from an older Proto-Italic *po-sine/o- (“to put down”), that is sinō (“to let, leave”) with a prefix.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the verb to the first half of the 13th century, and Zingarelli to 1268.^[6][7][4] The oldest senses DELI dates are the reflexive “to withdraw, hide oneself”, in the 13th-century poem on the defeat at Montaperti, and “to put something in a suitable place to keep or shelter it”, in the Novellino at the end of the century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Iacopone, who died before 1306, uses the verb for putting things aside, and Boccaccio, in 1348–1353, for putting something back in its place and, reflexively, for placing oneself again.^[9] In the Novellino the emperor has the precious stones he received “put away” (fecele riporre).^[5] Older Italian could also use the verb for burying the dead, a sense the Latin word had.^[12][8] Zingarelli still lists “to bury” as literary.^[4]

The figurative use with feelings, placing one's trust or hopes in someone or something, is dated by DELI to Pallavicino, before 1667.^[9] Petrarch already writes A che ripon’ più la speranza in lui (“Why do you still place hope in him?”).^[3]

The past participle riposto became an adjective, “secluded, hidden” (first half of the 14th century), and in southern Italy a noun for a food store.^[9][6] DELI notes Alessio's view that this southern noun is of Iberian origin, beside Spanish reposte “pantry”.^[9][6] ripostiglio “storeroom, hiding place” (14th century) is derived from riposto, with the ending of its old synonym nascondiglio.^[9][6] Prati and Meyer-Lübke trace the old ripostaglia to Old French repostaille.^[12][10]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – Riporre is first recorded.^[6][7]
• 1268 – The date Zingarelli gives for the first record.^[4]
• 13th century – The reflexive riporsi “to hide oneself” appears in the poem on the defeat at Montaperti.^[9]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses the verb for putting something in a safe place.^[9]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses it for “to put aside”.^[9]
• 14th century – Ripostiglio is first recorded, in a book of travels.^[9][6]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to put back in its place”.^[9]
• Before 1400 – Sacchetti uses it for “to put again”.^[9]
• Before 1667 – Pallavicino uses it for placing a feeling in someone or something.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put something back in its usual place, to replace: Ho riposto le tazze nella credenza.^[7][13][4]
2. To put something away in a sheltered place to keep it safe, to store; also to hide it.^{[14][13][15][4]}
3. (figurative) To place a feeling, hope or trust in someone or something: Ripone tutta la sua fiducia nel fratello.^{[7][14][13][16]}
4. To put a question or proposal forward again, to put it forward again, to repropose it (riproporre).^[7][4][15]
5. (literary) To bury.^[4]
6. (reflexive, riporsi) To set oneself again to something: riporsi al lavoro.^[16][4]

Word family

• riposto
• ripostiglio

Related words

• porre
• Latin repōnō

Usage notes

Riporre is conjugated like porre: ripongo, riposi, riposto.^[14][13][1] The familiar andare a riporsi “to go and hide oneself” is said, often as a rebuke, of someone who cannot stand comparison.^[16][15] Riporre la spada nel fodero means to sheathe the sword.^[7][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
3. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ 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, 683
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana