sbarazzare

Forms

sbarazzare (first-person singular present sbaràzzo, first-person singular past historic sbarazzài, past participle sbarazzàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian imbarazzare (“to hinder”) by putting the privative prefix s- in place of in-, so that it means “to remove the obstacle”.^[2][3][4][1] Devoto described it as modelled on the base verb with the change of prefix, and the GDLI takes the prefix from Latin ex-.^[5][6]

The base verb is from Spanish embarazar (1460), itself from Portuguese embaraçar (“to tie up, hinder”), formed on baraço (“noose, strap”), which DELI calls probably pre-Roman, perhaps Celtic.^[2][3]

The reflexive sbarazzarsi in the sense “to get rid of a troublesome person” copies French se débarrasser, used so from 1661.^[2][6] French débarrasser (1584) is described in DIFIT as shaped on the Italian verb, while the TLF derives it from Spanish.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in M. Buonarroti the Younger, in 1618, in the sense “to free a person, a thing or a place from what encumbers it”.^[2][4][7] In his Fiera the customs house is cleared to make room for the merchandise (la dogana si sbarazza / per dar luogo alle vostre mercanzie).^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Redi used the verb for freeing the blood vessels, and Targioni Tozzetti for fields cleared of straw.^[8][6] Tommaseo noted that ordinary speakers said sparecchiare or sbrattare for clearing a table, not sbarazzare.^[8] Verga's line about the road-mender who laid the body in the field onde sbarazzare le rotaie shows the literal sense.^[6][9]

The reflexive sbarazzarsi “to free oneself of someone or something” is recorded in the Milanese press in 1827; in 1872 Tommaseo called the sense a gallicism.^[2] It now covers getting rid of an object, a duty or a person, and as a euphemism killing someone.^[10][11][12]

Sbarazzino first meant a rascal (Giusti, 1839), then a quarrelsome young man (1855), and after 1891 a lively, cheeky boy;^[2] DELI finds its link with sbarazzare easy in form but hard in sense.^[2]

Timeline

• 1584 – French débarrasser is recorded.^[7]
• 1605 – Zingarelli's date for sbarazzare.^[9]
• 1618 – M. Buonarroti the Younger uses the verb.^[2][4]
• 1661 – French se débarrasser is used for getting rid of a person.^[2]
• 1827 – Sbarazzarsi is recorded in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1839 – Sbarazzino appears in Giusti.^[2]
• 1872 – Tommaseo calls the reflexive sense a gallicism.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To clear a place or thing of what encumbers it: sbarazzare la cantina dalle biciclette;^{[4][10][13][9][1]} sbarazzare la tavola, to clear the table.^{[4][10][13][9][1]}
2. (transitive) To free someone of a nuisance, a burden or an unwelcome person: mi ha sbarazzato di un lavoro noioso.^[4][10][11]
3. (reflexive, sbarazzarsi) To get rid of something or someone: sbarazzarsi di un vecchio divano.^{[10][13][9][11]}
4. (reflexive, euphemistic) To eliminate, to kill.^[10][11][12]

Word family

• sbarazzino
• sbarazzo
• sbarazzamento

Related words

• imbarazzare
• imbarazzo
• sgombrare
• French débarrasser

Usage notes

In the transitive verb the thing removed takes da (sbarazzare il tavolo dai giornali); the reflexive takes di, rarely da.^[10][9][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 387
6. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 643
7. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse