Etymologically
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sergente

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Pronunciation

  • /serˈd͡ʒɛn.te/[1]

Forms

sergente m (plural sergenti)[1] Old forms include Old Italian sargente, Old Italian sargiente and Old Italian sergiente.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French sergent (“servant”), recorded in French from 1050 in the sense “servant”, from Latin serviēns (“serving”), the present participle of serviō (“to serve, be a slave”).[4][5][6][1] The Latin participle has a learned descendant in servente.[7]

According to Arrigo Castellani, quoted by DELI, the word came from French twice: in the first centuries with the senses “foot soldier” and “servant”, and at the beginning of the 17th century with the sense “non-commissioned officer”, which is found in English from 1548 and in Spanish from 1607.[4] French also gave Spanish sargento, English sergeant and German Sergeant.[5][8] The native outcome is Old Occitan sirven, and its derivative sirventes named a kind of song.[8] Prati notes Old Italian sergiere (“servant”), with another suffix.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini, before 1294, with the sense “subordinate, servant”.[4] The Italian translation of his Tesoro says that a sergente should conform to his lord's manner.[10]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant a servant, as in Dante's Convivio, where the sergenti take the bread at the start of a banquet, a foot soldier (Giovanni Villani), and a constable or watchman: in Boccaccio's Decameron the sergenti of the town's captain arrive to break up a brawl.[6][10][11][9]

The military rank is first found in Roseo da Fabriano before 1580; for several centuries it named officers of various levels, and only later the first rank of non-commissioned officers.[4][3] Sergente maggiore, recorded in Francesco Guicciardini, follows Spanish sargento mayor.[9] In 1772 D'Alberti records the joiner's clamp called sergente, after French sergent (1549) in the same sense, because it serves a purpose.[4] The figurative sense “a harsh, domineering person” is recorded in 1960.[4]

Timeline

  • 1050 – French sergent “servant” is recorded.[4][6]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses sergente “servant”.[4]
  • 14th century – Boccaccio uses it for a constable, Villani for a foot soldier.[11]
  • 1548 – English sergeant is recorded in the military sense.[4]
  • Before 1580 – Roseo da Fabriano uses it as a military rank.[4]
  • 1772 – D'Alberti records sergente, the joiner's clamp.[4]
  • 1960 – The figurative sense “domineering person” is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military) A sergeant, the first rank of non-commissioned officer, in command of a squad: Il sergente fece schierare i soldati.[6][12][13]
  2. (figurative) A harsh, domineering person: La nostra allenatrice è un vero sergente.[6][12][14]
  3. (carpentry) A clamp for holding glued pieces of wood together.[6][12][14]
  4. (typography, plural) Angle quotation marks, guillemets.[12][13][14]
  5. (archaic) A servant; a foot soldier; a constable.[6][3][13]

Word family

  • sergentesco

Usage notes

Sergente maggiore is the next rank above sergente.[12][15] The clamp is also called servente, and the guillemets caporali.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 722
  3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 402
  8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 911
  10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3459
  12. ^ a b c d e 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 c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli