riposare

riposare¹ put down again

Pronunciation

• /ri.poˈza.re/, /ri.poˈsa.re/^[3]

Forms

riposare (first-person singular present ripòso, first-person singular past historic riposài, past participle riposàto, auxiliary avére)^[3]

Etymology

The verb meaning “to put down again” is from Italian ri- + posare, with the prefix of repetition.^[1][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is a 14th-century Vita di San Giovanni Battista, in the sense “to put down again, or more firmly”.^[1] GRADIT dates it to before 1342.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The reflexive riposarsi “to settle again” (of a bird on a branch) is recorded in 1970.^[1] In literary use it can simply mean “to alight, to settle”, as of the light in Manzoni's line “e i color vari suscita / dovunque si riposa”.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 14th century – First recorded in a Vita di San Giovanni Battista.^[1]
• Before 1342 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^[2]
• 1970 – The reflexive “to settle again” is in the Zingarelli dictionary.^[1]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put something down again, or back where it was: Ha riposato il libro sullo scaffale.^[2][6][4]
2. (reflexive riposarsi) To settle again, of a bird or an insect.^[6][4][7]

riposare² rest

Pronunciation

• /ri.poˈza.re/, /ri.poˈsa.re/^[3]

Forms

riposare (first-person singular present ripòso, first-person singular past historic riposài, past participle riposàto, auxiliary (transitive or intransitive) avére or (archaic when intransitive) èssere)^[3]

Etymology

The verb meaning “to rest” is inherited from Late Latin repausāre, recorded from the 5th century (Salonius), from pausō (“to cease, to stop”) with the intensive prefix re-.^[1][8][2][3] It ran beside, and replaced, classical Latin requiēscō (“to rest”).^[1] The Latin verb comes from pausa (“pause”).^[4] Nocentini classes it as a Latin word of Greek origin and compares the prefix with that of Ancient Greek ἀναπαύω (anapaúō, “to refresh, (middle) to rest”) in the New Testament.^[8]

The word is pan-Romance: French reposer, Occitan repausar, Catalan reposar, Spanish reposar, Portuguese repousar, and Romanian răposa, which means “to die”.^[8][9][10] In Venetia, Lombardy and the Ladin area the simple verb posare is used instead.^[1][11] By surface analysis it is that verb with the prefix ri-.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from an anonymous 13th-century poet, in the sense “to refresh oneself by stopping work or effort”; the line “e ripozai a l'umbra lungamente” (“and I rested in the shade a long while”) is quoted in the GDLI.^[1][5] GRADIT dates the verb to before 1249, in the old sense “to calm down, to resign oneself”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian quickly added “to sleep” (Bono Giamboni, before 1292), “to stop doing something” (Boccaccio, 1348–53) and, of land, “to lie fallow” (Crescenzi's translation, about 1350).^[1] The transitive “to give rest” is in Giovanni Villani, and “to rest on, to be placed on” in Luigi Alamanni, who died in 1556.^[1]

The phrases riposare in pace “rest in peace” and l'eterno riposo are translations of the Latin prayers for the dead, and on tombstones qui riposa means “here lies”.^[1][2] Later figurative uses are “to be based on” (a theory resting on an argument) and, of wine or dough, to be left to settle.^[2][12] The derived noun riposo spread widely in its own senses, from “sleep” to military “at ease” (1898) and retirement from service.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1249 – GRADIT's date, in the sense “to calm down”.^[2]
• 13th century – “To rest from toil” in an anonymous poet.^[1]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “to sleep” and the pronominal riposarsi.^[1]
• Late 13th century – The noun riposo appears in the Novellino.^[1]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani has the transitive “to give rest”.^[1]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to stop, to cease”.^[1]
• About 1350 – Crescenzi's translation uses it of land lying fallow.^[1]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rest: to stop an activity to recover one's strength: Dopo la gita ci siamo fermati a riposare.^[2][6][4]
2. To have a short sleep; to sleep: Stanotte non ho riposato bene.^[2][6][4]
3. (euphemistic) To be dead or buried: riposare in pace, qui riposa on gravestones.^[2][6][4]
4. To rest or be set on something, (figurative) to be based on: un'ipotesi che riposa su dati certi.^[2][12][13]
5. Of a liquid, to settle; of dough, to be left to rest: lasciar riposare l'impasto.^[2][4][7]
6. (agriculture) Of land, to lie fallow.^[2][4][12]
7. (transitive) To rest a part of the body or the mind, to give it rest: riposare la schiena.^[4][12]
8. (pronominal riposarsi) To take a rest.^[12][1]

Word family

• riposo
• riposante
• riposato
• riposino
• riposanza
• riposata