soggiogare

Forms

soggiogare (first-person singular present soggiógo or soggiògo, first-person singular past historic soggiogài, past participle soggiogàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian soggiugare, Old Italian suggiugare, Old Italian sugiugare, Old Italian soiogare and Old Italian subgiugare.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin subiugāre (“to bring under the yoke”).^[1][5][6][7] DELI and Sabatini–Coletti call the source Late Latin.^[5][8] The Latin verb is a parasynthetic formation from iugum (“yoke”) with the prefix sub- (“under”), so it is a relative of giogo.^[5][6][9] Its outcomes elsewhere are few: Meyer-Lübke cites only Old Portuguese sojigar beside the Italian verb.^[10]

The Latin noun continues Proto-Italic *jugom, from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *yewg- (“to yoke, join”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is soggiugare in Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, who reproaches the Florentines for wanting to tutto soggiugare el mondo (“subjugate the whole world”).^[5][2] The form soggiogare follows at the end of the 13th century in the Novellino.^[5] The sense is military: to defeat and bring under one's rule.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the verb in this sense in the Purgatorio: Cesare, per soggiogare Ilerda, / punse Marsilia (“Caesar, to subdue Lérida, struck at Marseille”).^[2][3] He also uses it for a place that stands above another, the church che soggioga / la ben guidata, which dominates Florence from its hill.^[9][8] This sense “to overlook, tower over” is now archaic.^[7][8][9]

Petrarch asks Che vale a soggiogar gli altrui paesi (“What use is it to conquer other people's lands”).^[11][2] The figurative senses, to dominate a person's will or to captivate, and to hold back passions, are part of modern usage.^[7][12][9]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo writes soggiugare.^[5][2]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino has soggiogare.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To subjugate, to bring or keep under one's power by force: L'impero soggiogò le tribù del nord.^{[7][12][8][4]}
2. (figurative) To dominate a person's will or mind, by force, influence or charm, to captivate: Lo soggiogava con uno sguardo.^[7][12][9]
3. (figurative, uncommon) To restrain, to hold back (passions, instincts).^[7][12][13]
4. (archaic) To stand above, to overlook from a height.^[7][12][8]

Word family

• soggiogamento
• soggiogatore
• soggiogabile
• soggiogazione
• risoggiogare

Related words

• giogo
• Latin iugum

Usage notes

The past participle soggiogato is also used as an adjective, “subdued” or “captivated”.^[11][9] The stressed vowel of the present is closed or open: soggiógo or soggiògo.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
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. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli