Etymologically
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scoprire

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Pronunciation

  • /skoˈpri.re/[1]

Forms

scoprire (first-person singular present scòpro, first-person singular past historic scoprìi or scopèrsi, past participle scopèrto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian s- + coprire, with the prefix ⟨s-⟩ in its privative sense: to uncover is to take away what covers.[2][3][4][5] The base verb continues Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), made of co- and operiō (“to cover, close”), whose own origin is uncertain.[2][3]

Prati allows that the verb may instead continue Late Latin discooperiō (“to uncover”), the source Meyer-Lübke gives for the whole Romance family.[6][7] The same compound is Romanian descoperi, French découvrir, Occitan descobrir, Catalan descobrir, Spanish descubrir and Portuguese descobrir, and in Sardinian and Friulian too.[7] The older and poetic form is scovrire.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Iacopone da Todi, before 1306, for “to free from what covers or hides”: a mother draws back the covers to look at her crying child.[2][10] DEI dates the variant scovrire to the 13th century, and GRADIT gives the 13th century for the verb.[8][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to come to know, and make known, something not known before” is in Dante, before 1321, and “to reveal, make plain” in Boccaccio in 1353.[2] Machiavelli, before 1527, uses the reflexive for showing one's own way of thinking, and a Milanese print of 1804 has scoprirsi for taking off one's clothes.[2] Boxing gave the sense “to drop one's guard” (recorded 1970), and modern dictionaries also use the verb for leaving a front or a goal undefended.[2][4][5]

The derivatives followed the verb: scoperto “uncovered, open” in Crescenzi's translation of about 1350, scopritore before 1586 and scoperta “discovery” before 1587, in Giovan Maria Cecchi.[2] Ironic Bella scoperta! for someone presenting the obvious as new is noted in 1863, and scoprire l'America and scoprire l'acqua calda are used the same way.[2][11][4]

Timeline

  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses scoprire for uncovering.[2]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for discovering something unknown.[2]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to reveal”.[2]
  • Before 1587 – Scoperta “discovery” is recorded in Cecchi.[2]
  • 1804 – The reflexive scoprirsi “to undress” is recorded in Milan.[2]
  • 1970 – The boxing sense “to drop one's guard” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To uncover, take off a lid or covering: Scopri il tegame e mescola il sugo.[4][12][5]
  2. (transitive) To unveil a statue or plaque at its public inauguration.[4][12]
  3. (transitive, also pronominal) To bare a part of the body, (intransitive pronominal) to dress too lightly: Copriti, non scoprirti con questo vento.[4][12][11]
  4. (transitive) To leave unprotected or undefended, in war, boxing or sport.[4][5][9]
  5. (transitive) To let be seen, (figurative) to reveal one's plans or feelings.[4][11][13]
  6. (transitive) To discover something unknown, a place, law or object: Gli archeologi hanno scoperto una villa romana.[4][5][11]
  7. (transitive) To find out a secret or a fact that was hidden, or to identify the person responsible.[4][5]
  8. (transitive) To come to see a quality in someone or to appreciate something for the first time.[4][5]
  9. (literary) To make out, catch sight of something far away.[4][9][13]

Word family

  • scoperta
  • scoperto
  • scopritore
  • riscoprire
  • scoprimento
  • scopribile

Usage notes

Common phrases are scoprire le carte “to show one's hand”, scoprire il fianco “to lay oneself open to attack” and the ironic scoprire l'America or l'acqua calda “to state the obvious”.[4][11][9]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 897
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3416
  9. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli