spandere

Forms

spandere (first-person singular present spàndo, first-person singular past historic spànsi or (uncommon) spandétti or (ditto, traditional) spandètti or (uncommon) spandéi, past participle spànto or spànso, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms include spàndare, spàndiare and spànnere.^[2] Jacopone used spannere in the 13th century.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin expandō (“to spread out, unfold”), with the loss of the initial vowel that marks it as the popular outcome.^[4][5][6][7] The learned doublet is espandere.^[1][4][7] The Latin verb is formed from ex- (“out”) and pandō (“to open, spread out”).^[8][9][10]

The LEI finds the form without the initial vowel outside Italian only in Friulian spandi, Sardinian spándiri in Campidanese and the participle Old French spandut (about 1000).^[7] Elsewhere the verb kept it: French épandre, Old Occitan espandre, Spanish espander and Catalan espandir.^[7][11] Romansh spaunder is the Engadine form.^[11][4]

De Vaan derives the simple verb from the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *pt-n(é)-h₂- (“to spread”), the same as in Ancient Greek πίτνημι (pítnēmi, “to spread out”); the participle passus and pateō (“to lie open”) have the full-grade root.^[12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest dates are for the reflexive “to spread out, widen” in Maestro Rinuccino (second half of the 13th century) and for the sense “to spread abroad, make known” in Giamboni's Vizi e virtù (before 1292).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

By the early 14th century the verb also meant “to pour, spill” (1310–1312, Dino Compagni) and “to squander” (before 1338, Bonichi); the reflexive “to spread” is in Cecco Angiolieri (before 1313).^[5] The LEI records it for shedding blood, sweat and tears from Boccaccio's Filocolo (1336–1338) on, and in many old northern and Tuscan forms such as Pavese spander (1342).^[7] Dante asks Virgil if he is the spring “that pours out so wide a river of speech” (che spandi di parlar sì largo fiume).^[8][14]

The sense “to spread evenly on a surface”, as grain on a threshing floor, is dated to about 1350 in the Crescenzi translation.^[5] The phrase spendere e spandere “to spend freely, squander” keeps the old sense of waste.^[15][16] Modern compounds name farm and household machines: spandifieno (1862), spandiconcime (1900) and spandicera (1960).^[5] From the Latin participle came the old adjective spaso “spread out” and spasa, a wide flat basket.^[17]

Timeline

• Second half of the 13th century – Maestro Rinuccino uses the reflexive “to spread”.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses spandere for “to spread abroad”.^[5][6]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for “to pour, spill”.^[5]
• Before 1338 – Bonichi uses it for “to squander”.^[5]
• About 1350 – The Crescenzi translation uses it for spreading on a surface.^[5]
• 1862 – Spandifieno is recorded.^[5]
• 1900 – Spandiconcime is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To spread evenly over a surface: spandere la sabbia sul vialetto.^{[6][8][9][15]}
2. (transitive) To spill, pour (spandere lacrime “to shed tears”, euphemistically spandere acqua “to urinate”): Ho spanto il latte sul pavimento.^[6][8][15]
3. (transitive) To give off, diffuse (light, heat, a scent): Il glicine spande un profumo intenso.^{[6][8][9][16]}
4. (transitive, figurative) To give generously;^[6][15][16] spendere e spandere: to squander money.^[6][15][16]
5. (transitive, figurative, literary) To spread (news, rumours).^{[6][8][15][16]}
6. (transitive, literary) To spread out, stretch (wings): quanto più disiose l'ali spando / verso di voi (Petrarch).^[6][10]
7. (intransitive) Of a container, to leak; of a substance, to spread.^[9][16]

Pronominal verb

1. spandersi: to spread out, widen; to be diffused: La notizia si spanse in tutto il paese.^[15][9][8]

Word family

• spandicera
• spandiconcime
• spandifieno
• spanditore
• spanto
• rispandere
• spandimento
• spanditrice
• spanditura

Related words

• espandere
• sparnazzare
• Latin expando

Usage notes

The past historic is spandei or spandetti, less often spansi; the past participle is spanto, with the old and literary spanso and spanduto.^{[8][9][18][1]}

References

1. ^ a b c d 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
3. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3576
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 22, 442
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 935
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli