riunire

Forms

riunire (first-person singular present riunìsco, first-person singular past historic riunìi, past participle riunìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian ri- + unire, with the prefix of repetition.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The base verb is learned: from Latin ūnīre (“to unite”), made from ūnus (“one”).^[3][1] The GDLI also records an old form Old Italian rivonire.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante, in 1304–1308, with the sense “to put things or people together again”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates “to join again” to D'Alberti's dictionary of 1804, and “to reconcile” to Tommaseo–Bellini in 1872, which found unclear the example cited from the 15th-century chronicle of G. Morelli.^[2] The sense “to bring together in one place” is first recorded in 1848, in Ugolini, who warned that it would sound bad.^[2]

The pronominal riunirsi “to be together again” appears before 1670 in S. Carlo da Sezze, and “to gather, hold a meeting” in G. Brusoni in 1680.^[2] The noun riunione followed in 1673 (Segneri), with the sense “meeting” from 1808 in the Milanese press.^[2] The past participle riunito became the name of the dentist's unit that combines several instruments in one apparatus (1965).^[2]

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – Dante uses riunire “to put together again”.^[2][4]
• Before 1670 – riunirsi “to come together again” is recorded.^[2]
• 1673 – riunione first appears, in Segneri.^[2]
• 1680 – G. Brusoni uses riunirsi “to meet”.^[2]
• 1808 – riunione “meeting” appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1848 – Ugolini records “to bring together in one place” and objects to it.^[2]
• 1872 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the sense “to reconcile”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To join together again, put back together parts that were separated: Ha riunito con la colla le due metà della tazza.^[4][7][8][1]
2. To gather or collect things or people in one place: Ho riunito tutte le foto in un album.^[4][9][7][1]
3. To call together, convene, especially for a meeting: Il sindaco ha riunito la giunta.^[4][7][1]
4. (figurative) To reconcile: La nascita del bambino ha riunito i genitori.^[4][7][8][1]
5. (pronominal, riunirsi) To come together again; to meet, assemble: Ci riuniamo ogni lunedì.^[7][10][8]

Word family

• riunione
• riunito
• riunimento
• riunitore

Related words

• unire
• unione

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 1012
7. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana