rivolgere

Forms

rivolgere (first-person singular present rivòlgo, first-person singular past historic rivòlsi, past participle rivòlto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin revolvō (“to roll back, turn over; think over”), formed from re- (“back, again”) and volvō (“to roll, turn”) and fitted into the pattern of the compounds of volgere.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Treccani of 2011 describes it instead as an Italian formation on the model of the Latin verb.^[6]

The same verb is Old French revoudre, Occitan revolver, Spanish revolver and Portuguese revolver.^[3][7] Battisti and Alessio note that it is hardly used in the dialects, which prefer rivoltare.^[8] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *welu- (“to wind”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the reflexive “to turn back, turn round”, in Bono Giamboni's Della miseria dell'uomo, before 1292.^[2][4] The sense “to turn again” is in Lambertuccio Frescobaldi before 1304: Poi che volgete e rivolgete faccia (“since you turn and turn your face again”).^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Dante, in 1300–1313, has the sense “to turn toward a direction”: Beatrice rivolse inver lo cielo il viso (“turned her face toward heaven”).^[2][10] Boccaccio used it for overturning a boat and for changing feelings into their opposite, and Francesco da Barberino for turning a matter over in the mind.^[11][4] Old forms include revògliere, revòlzere and the Tuscan rivòllare.^[10]

The sense “to turn backward or away” is dated to Daniello Bartoli in 1677, and the reflexive “to turn to someone for help or information” to the Milanese press in 1821.^[2] The noun rivolgimento meant a political upheaval in Giovanni Villani before 1348.^[2] The intensive rivoltare, which came into use in the 16th century, gave rivolta “revolt” and rivoltoso, and rivoltella was proposed in place of the English loan revolver.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the reflexive “to turn back”.^[2]
• Before 1304 – Lambertuccio Frescobaldi uses it for turning again.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for turning in a direction.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses rivolgimento for political upheaval.^[2]
• 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses rivolgimento.^[2]
• Before 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini uses rivolta for a revolt.^[2]
• 1677 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for turning backward.^[2]
• 1821 – The reflexive “to turn to someone for help” appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1872 – Tommaseo–Bellini record rivoltella.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn (again) toward a direction, to direct: Rivolse lo sguardo verso la finestra.^{[4][5][12][1]}
2. (figurative) To address words, a greeting or a question to someone: Nessuno gli rivolse una domanda.^[4][5][6][1]
3. (figurative) To turn one's thoughts, attention or feelings toward someone or something.^[4][5][12]
4. To turn round and round;^{[4][5][13][1]} (figurative) to mull over: Rivolgeva quel sospetto nella mente da giorni.^{[4][5][13][1]}
5. To turn away, avert (with da).^[4][5][1]
6. (literary) To overturn.^[4][5][6]
7. (uncommon) To dissuade; to incite to rebellion.^{[4][5][13][1]}
8. (rivolgersi, reflexive) To turn round; to speak to someone; to apply to someone for help or information: Per il rimborso si rivolga allo sportello tre.^[12][6][13]

Word family

• rivolgersi
• rivolgimento
• rivolto
• rivolta
• rivoltare
• rivoltante
• rivoltoso
• rivoltella
• rivoltolare

Related words

• volgere
• revolver
• Latin revolvō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like volgere: past historic rivolsi, past participle rivolto.^[5][12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
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 h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3270
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ 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, 1072
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 845
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli