scorta

Forms

scorta f (plural scorte)^[1] After a consonant older literary Italian also wrote iscorta (per iscorta).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Italian scorto, the past participle of scorgere, in the feminine and used as a noun.^[4][5][6][1] DELI takes it from the old sense of the verb “to guide, show the way”, and Sabatini–Coletti from its original sense “to accompany with the eye”.^[4][7] Nocentini starts from the adjective sense “shrewd, prudent, provident”, which also accounts for the sense “store kept for need”.^[5] Devoto saw in it an abstract and active sense, “watching, guarding”.^[8] The verb scortare “to escort” is derived from the noun, in 1680.^[4]

The verb scorgere continues Vulgar Latin *excorrigere (“to guide with the eye”), formed from ex- and Latin corrigō (“to straighten, set right”).^[4][5][9]

From Italian the noun passed into French escorte before 1520, Spanish escolta in 1530 and Portuguese escolta in 1660, and the verb into French escorter and Spanish escoltar.^[9][10][11] The English word escort came from the French noun in the 1570s.^[12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante, in 1304–1308, for the person or persons who escort someone, and Medieval Latin documents of Viterbo use the word from 1251.^[4] The sense “act of escorting” follows in Dante's Commedia, 1313–1319.^[4][11]

Semantic evolution

In Dante and Petrarch the scorta is above all a guide on a journey: Virgil is Dante's scorta in the Inferno, and Petrarch asks Love to be his scorta and show him the way.^[13][14][3] From guidance the word moved to armed protection and to the soldiers who give it, and later to naval and air escorts of convoys.^[13][3]

The sense “supply set aside for need” appears in the 14th century, in the Storie pistoiesi.^[4] In agriculture the plural scorte named the farm's working capital, recorded in 1804 and 1836: scorte vive were the livestock and scorte morte the tools, machines, feed and seed.^[4][2] Business language uses scorte for stocks of raw materials and goods.^[15][2]

Timeline

• 1251 – Medieval Latin documents of Viterbo use the word.^[4]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses scorta for the person who escorts.^[4]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for the act of escorting.^[4]
• 14th century – the Storie pistoiesi have the sense “supply”.^[4]
• Before 1520 – French escorte is first recorded.^[9][11]
• 1680 – Giovanni Brusoni uses the verb scortare.^[4]
• 1804 – scorta is recorded for a farm's working capital.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of escorting someone or something for protection, guidance or surveillance: sotto la scorta di, with the guidance of: sulla scorta di, on the basis of.^[15][6][2]
2. The person or persons who escort; a bodyguard: Il ministro viaggiava con una scorta di sei agenti.^[15][7][16]
3. (military) A unit of soldiers, ships or aircraft protecting a convoy, and the service it performs: also as an invariable adjective, nave scorta.^[15][6][7]
4. A supply or stock of food, money or goods kept for future need: di scorta, spare, as in ruota di scorta, a spare wheel.^[15][2][17]
5. (business, usually plural) Stocks of materials and of goods awaiting use or sale; inventory.^[15][2][7]
6. (agriculture, plural) The movable working capital of a farm: scorte vive (livestock) and scorte morte (equipment, feed, seed).^[15][2]

Word family

• scortare
• avanscorta

Related words

• scorgere
• scorto
• French escorte
• English escort

Usage notes

GDLI records a separate Old Italian scorta “shortcut”, in Giordano da Pisa, a deverbal noun of scortare “to shorten”.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c 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 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
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 1479
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18
15. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli