Etymologically
Log in

riportare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 21:09. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ri.porˈta.re/[1]

Forms

riportare (first-person singular present ripòrto, first-person singular past historic riportài, past participle riportàto, auxiliary avére)[1] The older form is Old Italian reportare, and Tommaseo and the GDLI also list repportare.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reportō (“to carry back”), from portō (“to carry”) with the prefix re- (“back”).[5][6][7][1] DELI and the GDLI call it a learned word.[5][4] In some senses it is a formation from Italian ri- + portare, and Treccani and Gabrielli treat the whole verb this way, Treccani on the model of the Latin.[5][8][2] Devoto sees the Latin verb crossed with the Italian prefix.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the verb to the 13th century, Nocentini to its third quarter, and Zingarelli gives 1319.[6][10][11] DELI's first dated sense, “to carry again”, is in Boccaccio's Decameron (1348–1353), where a good woman takes the chest back to the place she had taken it from.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb already meant “to report, bring back as an answer” (an Ovid translation), and Boccaccio used it figuratively for gaining or obtaining something, as one brings back a prize.[5] The same sense covers both victories and damage: today one riporta a success or injuries.[7][12] Vasari used it in 1550 for transferring a drawing to another scale, and the citing of a text is recorded before 1750.[5]

Luca Pacioli's Summa of 1494 already has reportare and far reporto for carrying a figure in addition, and the noun riporto became the word for the carried figure, for a stock-exchange contract (1857) and for fill earth.[5] The sense “to take back home” appears in Tommaseo (1872), and the reflexive riportarsi “to refer to” is recorded before 1536 in Marin Sanudo.[5] Of a gun dog, riportare is to retrieve the game.[7][10]

Timeline

  • 13th century – The verb is first recorded.[6][10]
  • 14th century – It is used for reporting news, in an Ovid translation.[5]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for carrying something back.[5]
  • Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses it for obtaining something.[5]
  • 1494 – Luca Pacioli uses reportare for carrying in arithmetic.[5]
  • Before 1536 – Riportarsi “to refer to” appears in Marin Sanudo.[5]
  • 1550 – Vasari uses it for transferring a drawing.[5]
  • 1857 – Riporto names a stock-exchange contract.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To bring or take back to a place, to take home again: Domani riporto i bambini dai nonni.[7][10][12]
  2. To return, to give back: Devo riportare il libro in biblioteca.[7][10][12]
  3. Of a gun dog, to retrieve the game for the hunter.[7][10]
  4. To report, to relate what others have said or written, to quote: Il quotidiano riporta la dichiarazione per intero.[7][12][11]
  5. To transfer or reproduce a drawing, a design or measurements, often to another scale.[7][12][11]
  6. (figurative) To trace back, to attribute to a cause: Riporta ogni problema alla mancanza di soldi.[7][10]
  7. (figurative) To obtain, win, or else to suffer: riportare una vittoria, riportare ferite.[7][12][11]
  8. (mathematics) To carry a figure in a calculation.[7][11][1]
  9. (reflexive) riportarsi: to go back in one's mind to a time, or to refer to something already said.[11][5]

Word family

  • riporto
  • riportabile
  • riportatore

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ 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, 686
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 374
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse