scambiare

Forms

scambiare (first-person singular present scàmbio, first-person singular past historic scambiài, past participle scambiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old Florentine and Pisan texts also have Old Italian iscambiare.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (“to exchange”), formed from Late Latin cambiāre (“to exchange”) with the prefix ex-.^[3][1][4][2] The Vulgar Latin verb is not recorded; the LEI reconstructs it from words found all over the Romance area except Sardinia, such as French échanger, Old Occitan escambiar (recorded in 989), Catalan escambiar, Portuguese escambar and Romanian schimba, the last perhaps a loan from Italian.^[2][3][4] Italian lost the initial vowel, as its popular forms regularly do.^[2]

DELI, GRADIT and the DEI treat the verb instead as formed within Italian, from Italian s- + cambiare, with a prefix that Treccani and Sabatini–Coletti call intensive and Devoto–Oli subtractive.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

The Late Latin verb is found in Apuleius and is glossed as “giving one thing for another”; it is usually held to be of Gaulish origin, and the LEI compares Middle Irish cimb (“tribute”).^[11] Wiktionary derives the noun Latin cambium from Gaulish cambion, from Proto-Celtic *kambos (“twisted, crooked”).^[1] Figge proposed instead an unattested Vulgar Latin *coambāre (“to join together”), from Latin ambō (“both”); the LEI leaves the question to Latinists.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are Florentine iscambiare in the late 13th-century Tesoro volgarizzato and in the Valerio Massimo volgarizzato of about 1336, meaning to replace one person by another, especially in the exchange of prisoners or hostages.^[2] Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348, already writes scambiare.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Boccaccio's Decameron the verb means to take one thing for another by mistake: Bruno has two pills marked per non ismarrirle o scambiarle (“so as not to lose them or mix them up”).^[5][12][13] The sense “to make an exchange” is recorded in the 14th century in Francesco da Buti, and the sense “to mistake one person for another” in Carlo Roberto Dati, who died in 1676.^[5]

From the early 15th century to Davanzati the verb also meant to succeed someone in an office, and Burchiello used it for changing a person completely.^[2] The noun scambio “exchange” goes back to Medieval Latin excambium at Squillace in 1207 and is Italian from the late 13th century; in 1892 it became the railway switch.^[5] Scambista, a trader, is the French échangiste.^[5]

In Apulia, Lucania, Sicily, Calabria and Naples a dialect type skaña is not inherited but continues French échanger, and Old Italian scangiare “to relieve the guard” was borrowed from the same French verb.^[2][4] Today the verb also means to exchange words or opinions, and colloquially to change a banknote; the reciprocal scambiarsi is “to give each other”, and in physics “to interact”.^[6][14][8]

Timeline

• 1207 – Medieval Latin excambium “exchange” is recorded at Squillace.^[5]
• Late 13th century – Florentine iscambiare appears in the Tesoro volgarizzato.^[2]
• 1320 – Zingarelli's date for the first record of scambiare.^[14]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron uses scambiare and the noun scambio.^[5][6]
• 1554 – Scambievole “mutual” is first recorded, in Iacopo Nardi.^[5]
• Before 1676 – Carlo Roberto Dati uses the verb for mistaking one person for another.^[5]
• 1892 – Scambio is recorded for the railway switch.^[5]
• 1933 – Scambiatore “heat exchanger” is first recorded, according to Nocentini;^[3][5] DELI has 1949.^[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mistake one person or thing for another, to confuse them: L'ho scambiata per sua cugina.^[6][10][8]
2. To take something that belongs to someone else by mistake.^[6][10][8]
3. To exchange, barter: to give one thing and receive another in return.^[6][10][14]
4. To exchange words, opinions or impressions;^[6][10][8] scambiare due parole, to have a short chat.^[6][10][8]
5. (colloquial) To change a banknote into smaller money.^[6][10][14]
6. (reciprocal, scambiarsi) To give, say or do to each other: Si scambiarono un sorriso.^[14][8]
7. (physics, scambiarsi) To interact.^[8]

Word family

• scambio
• scambievole
• scambiatore
• scambista
• scambiamento
• scambiabile
• interscambiare
• riscambiare

Related words

• cambiare
• French échanger

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 1135
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3367
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 1701
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 780
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli