sciogliere

Forms

sciogliere (first-person singular present sciòlgo, first-person singular past historic sciòlsi, past participle sciòlto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The contracted infinitive sciorre is popular and literary, with the future sciorrò.^[2][3][4] Old forms include sciolgere and scioliere, and Sienese sciogliare.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin exsolvō (“to unbind, release”), a compound of ex- and solvō (“to loosen, untie”).^[6][7][8][1] The other Romance languages continue the simple verb instead: French soudre, Occitan solver, Spanish solver and Portuguese solver.^[7] Battisti and Alessio explain the Italian conjugation by the model of cogliere,^[9] while Prati derives the word from solvere with an initial ⟨sci-⟩ taken from the prefix.^[10] The verb is Sicilian sciògghiri in Sicily.^[1]

solvō is itself a compound of sē- (“apart”) and luō (“to loosen, release”).^[11][7] Nocentini explains the ⟨o⟩ of the first syllable by the velar ⟨l⟩ that followed it, and compares Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen”) and Old High German lōs (“loose”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, in the sense “to free people or animals from what binds them”.^[6][8] Prati cites Bono Giamboni for a figurative use.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the verb for undoing what is tied or wound: Poscia ch'io l'ebbi tutta da me sciolta (“After I had loosened it all from me”), of the cord in Inferno 16.^[6][5] He also uses the participle sciolto for nimble movement, and la lingua sciolta for fluent speech (1310–1313).^[6]

Later centuries added abstract senses: releasing from an obligation (Feo Belcari, before 1484), solving a tangle, as in Ariosto's io vi sciorrò tutti gli intrichi (1532), melting (1560), loosening the limbs (1562), and dismissing an assembly (Pietro Verri, 1769).^[6] Sciogliersi for “to melt” is recorded in 1822, and sciogliere un problema in 1873.^[6]

In literary Italian sciogliere le vele or simply sciogliere means to set sail, after Latin solvere navem, and sciogliere un canto to raise a song, as in Manzoni's e scioglie all'urna un cantico / che forse non morrà.^[3][4] Unrhymed versi sciolti (blank verse) are named by Varchi before 1565, and scioglilingua, a tongue-twister, is recorded in 1887.^[6]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – the Novellino uses sciogliere “to set free”.^[6][8]
• 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses the adjective sciolto “free of bonds”.^[6]
• 1310–1313 – Dante has lingua sciolta “fluent tongue”.^[6]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses sciogliere for undoing a knot or cord.^[6]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani has scioglimento for the break-up of a society.^[6]
• Before 1484 – Feo Belcari uses it for ending an obligation.^[6]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses it for solving tangles.^[6]
• 1560 – the sense “to melt, liquefy” is recorded.^[6]
• 1769 – Pietro Verri uses it for dismissing an assembly.^[6]
• 1887 – scioglilingua “tongue-twister” is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To untie, undo: to open a knot or loosen something tied, wound or braided: Sciogli la corda e libera la barca.^[8][2][12]
2. (transitive) To set free a person or animal from chains or bonds.^[8][2]
3. (transitive, figurative) To release someone from an obligation, promise or vow.^[8][2]
4. (transitive) To fulfil a vow or promise.^[8][4]
5. (transitive) To melt; to dissolve a substance in a liquid: Lo zucchero si scioglie nel caffè caldo.^[8][4][12]
6. (transitive) To annul a contract or agreement; to wind up an association or alliance.^[8][2]
7. (transitive) To bring a meeting or demonstration to an end, to disband it.^[8][4]
8. (transitive) To solve or explain a question, riddle or doubt.^[8][12]
9. (transitive) To spell out an abbreviation or acronym in full.^[8]
10. (transitive) To loosen up the muscles or limbs with exercise.^[8][13]
11. (sciogliersi) To come undone; to melt; to free oneself.^[12][4]

Word family

• sciolto
• scioglimento
• scioltezza
• scioglilingua
• scioglibile
• scioglitore
• disciogliere
• prosciogliere
• proscioglimento

Related words

• solvere
• Latin exsolvō

Usage notes

A separate sciogliere, an old and regional variant of scegliere “to choose”, is recorded in Old Italian texts.^[5][14] Common phrases are sciogliere la lingua a qualcuno (to make someone talk), sciogliere la riserva (to make a decision one had held back) and, in medicine, sciogliere la prognosi (to declare a patient out of danger).^[8][2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c 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 g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3401
10. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 893
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it