sospetto
Italian has two words spelled sospetto: the adjective “suspicious, suspect”, from the Latin participle suspectus, and the noun “suspicion”, from the Latin noun suspectus or formed from sospettare.[1][2][3] DELI and Nocentini number them 1 and 2;[1][2][4] GRADIT has the opposite order.[1][2][4]
sospetto1 suspicious; suspect
Pronunciation
- /sosˈpɛt.to/[3]
Forms
sospetto (feminine sospetta, masculine plural sospetti, feminine plural sospette)[3]
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Latin suspectus (“mistrusted, suspected”), the past participle of suspicere (“to look up at; to mistrust”).[1][2][4][3] suspiciō is speciō (“to look”) with the prefix sub- (“under”).[2][1] speciō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”).[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
GRADIT dates the adjective to about 1225;[4][1] DELI's first record is Iacopone da Todi (before 1306), for what arouses distrust or fear.[4][1] The GDLI quotes Iacopone's miser who ha sospetta la fameglia, distrusts his own household, lest they rob him.[6]
Semantic evolution
Dino Compagni's chronicle praised the newly elected priors of Florence as uomini non sospetti e buoni, men above suspicion; a Pisan statute of 1313–1323 declared every Guelph sospecto to the people of Pisa.[6] DEI notes that Latin suspectus could also mean “mistrustful”, the sense of Italian sospettoso.[7]
Modern senses are a feared illness (una sospetta frattura), goods of doubtful origin, and a mushroom not known to be edible; used as a noun it means a suspected person.[4][8][9]
Timeline
- About 1225 – GRADIT's first date.[4]
- Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the adjective.[1][6]
- 1313–1323 – a Pisan statute uses sospecto for those distrusted by the commune.[6]
Meanings
Adjective
- suspicious, arousing distrust or doubt: Un'auto sospetta era parcheggiata davanti alla banca.[4][8][9]
- Suspected of a crime: un funzionario sospetto di corruzione.[8][9]
- Of doubtful origin, probably stolen or smuggled: merce sospetta.[4][8]
- Feared to exist, possible: un sospetto caso di morbillo.[4][8][9]
- Of a mushroom, not known to be edible.[4][8]
Noun
Word family
- sospettamente
sospetto2 suspicion
Pronunciation
- /sosˈpɛt.to/[3]
Forms
sospetto m (plural sospetti)[3]
Etymology
The noun is formed in Italian from the verb sospettare (“to suspect”), according to DELI, GRADIT, Sabatini and Wiktionary.[1][4][9][3] The verb is suspectō (“to look up at; to suspect”), a frequentative of suspicere (“to look up at; to mistrust”), which is speciō (“to look”) with the prefix sub-.[1][2] Nocentini, the GDLI and Meyer-Lübke instead derive the noun from the noun Latin suspectus (“a looking up”), formed from suspiciō;[2][6][10][11][7] DEI gives both, noting that the Latin noun lacked the Romance sense.[2][6][10][11][7] The noun has cognates in Sardinian suspettu, Friulian suspiet and Old Spanish sospecho.[7][10]
The GDLI attributes the modern sense “a hint, a trace” to the influence of French soupçon.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The GDLI's earliest quotation is from the poet Abbracciavacca;[6][1] DELI dates the noun to Dante (before 1321), for distrust of others' conduct.[6][1] GRADIT dates it 1313–1319.[4] Dante also used it for fear: he pressed close to the poet per sospetto.[4]
Semantic evolution
In Old Italian sospetto meant not only suspicion but also fear and hesitation, senses GRADIT and Devoto–Oli now mark as archaic and literary.[4][8] DEI dates the sense “clue, sign” to the 16th century (Firenzuola).[7] In law, legittimo sospetto is a ground for moving a criminal trial to another court.[8][4] The colloquial un sospetto di latte, a drop of milk, is the French-influenced sense “a trace”.[4][6]
Timeline
- Before 1321 – Dante uses it for distrust and for fear.[1][6]
- 16th century – Firenzuola uses it for a clue.[7]
Meanings
Noun
- A suspicion, a more or less founded belief that someone is guilty or something is wrong: Ho il sospetto che ci stia mentendo.[4][8][9]
- A feeling of distrust: Tra i due soci regnava un clima di sospetto..[9]
- (archaic, literary) Fear; hesitation.[4][8]
- (colloquial) A tiny amount, a trace: un tè con un sospetto di limone.[4]
Word family
- sospettoso
- insospettire
Related words
- sospettare
- suspicione
- Latin suspectus
- French suspect
Usage notes
Phrases with the noun include al di sopra di ogni sospetto (above suspicion), destare sospetti (to arouse suspicion) and, in law, legittimo sospetto.[4][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
- ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3562
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
- ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press