sparare

Forms

sparare (first-person singular present spàro, first-person singular past historic sparài, past participle sparàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *exparāre (“to prepare (an animal) for cooking by gutting it”), from Latin parō (“to prepare”) with ex-.^[2][1][3][4] Arrigo Castellani, followed by DELI, saw in it a cooks' word for cleaning a bird, hare or fish of its innards before cooking, with the prefix used as an intensive rather than a privative; the LEI adds that the Latin verb has no descendants outside Italy.^[2][3] Nocentini instead treats it as an Italian formation from parare or apparare (to prepare) with the privative s-, “to prepare by taking out the innards”.^[5] Sabatini–Coletti mention a derivation from Latin sparus (“small hunting spear”).^[6]

The sense “to fire a gun” is recorded two centuries later and is usually derived from the older verb, although the step is not clear.^[2][7][3] Castellani suggested a vivid metaphor, firing a weapon as gutting it of its contents, which the LEI finds too picturesque to be credible; the LEI prefers a link through the wounds that the first firearms, with their large calibres and several balls, opened in the bodies of their victims.^[2][3] The GDLI and Tommaseo understood it as “emptying, discharging” the weapon, the reverse of making it ready.^[4][8] Nocentini sees the prefixed verb here as undoing the preparation of the weapon, probably on the model of Spanish disparar, which was used of the crossbow early in the 15th century.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record of the older sense, “to cut open the belly”, is Brunetto Latini's Rettorica of about 1260–1261, which says that Nero killed his brother and “sparando la madre” (cut open his mother).^[5][3][4] The shooting sense first appears in Luca Pulci, who died in 1470.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian sparare was used of butchering pigs and of tearing a body open, and, from 1585 the participle sparato named the opening at the front of a garment; in the 20th century it became the starched front of a man's evening shirt.^[2][4] The cutting sense survives in central Italy for gutting fish and animals.^[7][9]

The firearms sense spread with the new weapons: transitive in the 15th century, intransitive “to fire” by the end of it, and extended to throwing and hurling in 1562.^[2] By 1875 one could sparare lies and tall stories; football commentators use it for a hard shot, journalists for splashing a story on the front page, and television technicians, from 1959, for a bright surface that dazzles the camera.^[2][7][9] Sparare a zero, to fire with no elevation and so at point-blank range, now means to criticize fiercely.^[2][10] The derivatives sparata (1582, a volley; before 1600, a boast), sparo (1666) and sparatoria (1927, when Panzini described it as a Neapolitan revolver brawl) followed.^[2]

Timeline

• About 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses sparare for “to cut open”.^[5][3]
• Before 1470 – Luca Pulci uses it for firing a gun.^[2][7]
• 1562 – The verb is used for “to throw, hurl”.^[2]
• 1582 – Sparata (a volley) is recorded.^[2]
• 1666 – Sparo (a shot) appears in Lorenzo Magalotti.^[2]
• 1875 – Rigutini and Fanfani record sparare for “to tell tall stories”.^[2]
• 1927 – Sparatoria (shoot-out) is recorded by Panzini.^[2]
• 1959 – The verb is used of a surface that glares in television filming.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shoot, fire a weapon: Il cacciatore ha sparato due volte., sparare a qualcuno, to shoot at someone.^[7][6][11]
2. To fire (a shot, a burst): sparare tre colpi.^[7][9][12]
3. To shoot out, project: I cannoni sparano neve artificiale.^[7][9]
4. (figurative) To throw, land (kicks or punches).^[7][6][10]
5. (football) To shoot the ball hard: sparare la palla fuori.^[7][9][12]
6. (figurative, colloquial) To come out with lies or exaggerations, spararle grosse, to tell tall tales; to ask an outrageous price.^[7][6][11]
7. (journalism) To give a story great prominence.^[7][9][12]
8. (nautical) To release a catch or fastening suddenly.^[7][11][10]
9. (regional, central Italy) To gut an animal or fish by cutting it open.^[7][9][12]
10. spararsi: to shoot oneself.^[6][10]

Word family

• sparo
• sparatoria
• sparata
• sparatore
• sparato
• sparacchiare
• sparachiodi
• spararazzi
• sparapunti

Related words

• parare
• apparare
• Spanish disparar

Usage notes

Two minor words of the same spelling are no longer in use: sparare “to strip a room or an altar of its hangings”, from parare with privative s- (Aretino, Bartoli), and Tuscan sparare “to unlearn, forget”, the opposite of imparare (Franco Sacchetti: “chi ha apparato tosto spara”, whoever has learned soon forgets).^[13][7] DEI also records a northern sparare “to save”, which it takes from German sparen.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 22, 512
4. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 701
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 4, 1063
9. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 702
14. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3577