Etymologically
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scomparsa

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Pronunciation

  • /skomˈpar.sa/[1]

Forms

scomparsa f (plural scomparse)[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of scomparso, the past participle of scomparire (“to disappear”), used as a noun.[2][3][4][5][6] Nocentini derives it from the verb directly.[7] The verb is formed from comparire (“to appear”) with the prefix s- of reversal, and that verb comes from Latin compāreō (“to appear, be visible”), a compound of pāreō (“to appear”).[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is a Milanese newspaper of 1842, in the sense of the act of disappearing;[8][3][4] Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti date it to 1848.[8][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo defined scomparsa as withdrawing from sight, nearly always unexpectedly and more often of persons than of things, and preferred it to French disparition; for things he advised lo sparire or il dileguarsi.[9] The euphemistic sense “death” is recorded in 1940.[8]

In law scomparsa is the absence of a person from their home without news, which allows a guardian to be appointed and, later, a declaration of presumed death.[6][2][5] The word is also used for the extinction of a species and for the disappearance of things, and a scomparsa describes fittings that fold or slide out of sight: letto a scomparsa, porte a scomparsa.[6][2][10]

Timeline

  • 1842 – Scomparsa appears in the Milanese press.[8]
  • 1848 – Zingarelli's and Sabatini–Coletti's date for the word.[3][4]
  • 1940 – It is recorded in the euphemistic sense “death”.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. disappearance, vanishing; the fact that someone cannot be found: La scomparsa del ragazzo è stata denunciata ieri sera.[6][2][4]
  2. (euphemistic) death, passing: Tutto il paese ha pianto la scomparsa del vecchio medico.[6][2][4]
  3. (law) The absence of a person from their home with no news of them, which allows a guardian to be appointed.[6][2][4]
  4. The disappearance of things; the extinction of a species.[6][2]
  5. a scomparsa: retractable, folding or sliding out of sight.[2][10]
  • scomparire
  • scomparso
  • comparsa
  • sparizione

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  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 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana