schiudere

Forms

schiudere (first-person singular present schiùdo, first-person singular past historic schiùsi, past participle schiùso, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin exclūdere (“to shut out; to let out”), formed with ex- (“out”) from claudō (“to close”).^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} It is the popular outcome beside the learned doublet escludere, with the initial vowel lost.^[7][1][6] Devoto notes the regular change of /au/ to /u/ in a non-initial syllable of the Latin compound.^[8] Nocentini instead derives it from disclūdō (“to separate; to open”), whose outcome the LEI finds rather in dischiudere.^[9][10]

Northern Italian dialect forms with a stressed /o/ point to a variant *exclaudere, which also gave Old French esclore and French éclore (“to hatch”).^[6][11] The Latin verb “to close” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u-d- (“to shut”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Dante's, in 1310–1313, in the pronominal sense “to come out of an enclosed place”: in the Inferno the damned run biting “like the pig when it gets out of the sty” (che 'l porco, quando del porcil si schiude).^[2][13] The TLIO gives as its senses “to open to let someone or something in or out” and “to open to knowledge”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian kept the Latin meaning “to exclude, shut out”: the chroniclers write of citizens schiusi from public office, and Dante has per ischiudere ogni falsa oppinione, “to exclude every false opinion”.^[13][15] This sense, which the learned escludere took over, is now obsolete.^[3][16]

The sense “to open slightly and slowly” is dated from Ariosto, who has Bradamante open her mouth to speak (la bocca schiuse).^[2][17] In the 16th century the verb also meant “to teach, explain”, and in the 17th “to give birth”.^[18][6] Later uses are figurative: opening the heart to a feeling, revealing new prospects, and, in the pronominal schiudersi, eggs hatching and flowers opening.^[3][16][4] The noun schiusa, the act of opening or hatching, is recorded from 1871.^[2]

Timeline

• 1310–1313 – Dante uses the pronominal verb for coming out of an enclosure.^[2]
• 1347 – A Florentine text uses it for sending someone away.^[6]
• 1516 – Ariosto uses it for opening the eyes or mouth slightly.^[6]
• Before 1533 – DELI's date for the sense “to open slightly and slowly”.^[2]
• 1871 – The noun schiusa is recorded in Cantù.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To open slightly or slowly: the eyes, the lips, a door or a window: Schiuse appena la finestra per guardare fuori.^{[3][19][7][16]}
2. (transitive, figurative) To open the mind or heart to a feeling: schiudere il cuore alla fiducia.^[3][19][7]
3. (transitive, figurative) To reveal or open up a prospect: quel viaggio gli schiuse un mondo nuovo.^[3][19][16]
4. (transitive, obsolete) To exclude, shut out.^[3][19][16]
5. (pronominal, schiudersi) To open slowly or partly; of eggs, to hatch; of flowers, to blossom: Le uova della gallina si sono schiuse stamattina.^{[19][7][4][16]}
6. (pronominal, figurative) To appear, come into view, or begin to show itself.^[19][7][16]

Word family

• schiusa
• schiudimento
• rischiudere

Related words

• chiudere
• dischiudere
• escludere
• Latin exclūdō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like chiudere: past historic schiusi, past participle schiuso.^[19][7][1] Socchiudere is the more expressive verb for opening the eyes or lips slightly.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ 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. 21, 1351
7. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 392
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 720
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 1028
16. ^ 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)
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 1027
18. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3391
19. ^ 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