scattare

Forms

scattare (first-person singular present scàtto, first-person singular past historic scattài, past participle scattàto, auxiliary (transitive, alternatively also in the intransitive meaning "to be released suddenly") avére or (intransitive in other meanings) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries derive it from an unrecorded inherited from Vulgar Latin *excaptāre (“to try to seize”), formed from ex- and Latin captō (“to try to catch”), itself a derivative of capiō (“to take”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The prefix is explained either as intensive or as negative, the verb meaning first “to slip out of a grip”.^[3][7]

Nocentini rejects the Vulgar Latin verb: the northern dialect verb meaning “to scratch about”, on which it rests, has a separate history.^[8] He takes the verb as a recent formation from Italian s- + cattare (“to take, catch”), the prefix giving the sense “to break free of the hold”, and places its rise in clockwork, for a part that is suddenly released from the mechanism holding it.^[8] Devoto–Oli follow this view, and the LEI and Meyer-Lübke also list it among the derivatives of the old verb.^[9][10][11] That old verb itself continues the Latin one.^[11][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI dates the verb to the 14th century and cites Benedetto Varchi, in the 16th, for the sense “to slip away, escape”;^[12][5] Zingarelli dates it before 1573.^[12][5] The LEI records scattare “to deviate, differ” (of a hair, a nail's breadth) from before 1665, in Lorenzo Lippi, and DELI's first record of the mechanical sense is in Lorenzo Magalotti, before 1712.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the verb was used of springs and mechanisms released from tension: Salvini explains that a spring scatta when it escapes its hold, and Averani describes a pendulum clock whose tongue clicks every minute.^[13][2] The figurative sense “to burst out in anger or impatience” is recorded in the first half of the 18th century, and the sense “to spring up, move suddenly” in Tommaseo–Bellini in 1872.^[2] Soldiers scattano sull'attenti from 1906, and in sport the verb has meant “to accelerate suddenly” since about 1970.^[10]

The transitive use “to take a photograph”, from the click of the shutter, is recorded in 1918 by Sabatini–Coletti and in 1964, in Mario Soldati, by DELI.^[4][2] The verb also means “to start, come into force” and “to rise to a higher level”, as a salary does; the noun scatto has meant a pay rise since 1927.^[3][9][2]

Timeline

• 16th century – Benedetto Varchi uses scattare “to escape”.^[12]
• Before 1665 – Lorenzo Lippi uses it for “to deviate”.^[10]
• 1666 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses the noun scatto.^[2]
• Before 1712 – Magalotti uses the verb of a spring released from tension.^[2]
• First half of the 18th century – It is used for “to burst out in anger”.^[2]
• 1872 – Tommaseo–Bellini record it for “to spring up”.^[2]
• 1906 – Scattare sull'attenti is recorded.^[10]
• 1927 – Scatto is used for a pay rise.^[2]
• 1964 – Mario Soldati uses scattare una fotografia.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a spring or mechanism, to be released suddenly, to go off, to click: Il grilletto è scattato a vuoto.^[3][9][5]
2. To come into operation automatically, to be triggered: Di notte l'allarme è scattato due volte.^[3][9][4]
3. (figurative) To begin suddenly, to come into force: L'operazione scatterà domani all'alba.^[3][9][4]
4. To spring up or forward, to jump: scattare in piedi, scattare sull'attenti.^[3][9][5]
5. (sports) To sprint, to accelerate suddenly.^[9][4][5]
6. (figurative) To lose one's temper, to snap: Basta una parola e scatta.^[9][4][5]
7. (figurative) Of a feeling, to arise suddenly.^[3][9]
8. (figurative) To rise to a higher level or grade.^[3][9][6]
9. (transitive, photography) To take a photograph: scattare una foto.^[4][5][1]

Word family

• scattante
• scattista
• scatto

Related words

• cattare
• captare

Usage notes

The auxiliary is essere; in the mechanical sense avere is also found.^[5][1] Zingarelli records an obsolete use in phrases such as ci scatta un pelo, “there is a hair's breadth of difference”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 26
11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3379
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 892