spargere

Forms

spargere (first-person singular present spàrgo, first-person singular past historic spàrsi, past participle spàrso, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spargō (“to scatter, strew”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} DÉRom reconstructs the Proto-Romance verb from cognates in every branch except Dalmatian, Friulian and Romansh, with the two senses “to scatter” and “to make widely known”; the second is an abstract development of the first, and written Latin agrees.^[6] The same verb is Old French espardre, Occitan esparzer, Catalan espargir, Spanish esparcir, Portuguese espargir and Sardinian ispàrghere, while Romanian sparge means “to break”.^[3][7]

De Vaan sets behind the Latin verb Proto-Italic *sparg- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(e)r-g- (“to strew”), an extension with a ⟨g⟩ of the root *sper- (“to spread, sow”), and compares Hittite išpār-i (“to spread out, strew”) and Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō, “to strew, sow”); he rejects the older comparison with words for crackling and roaring sounds, on grounds of meaning and of the Latin vowel.^[8] Nocentini compares the Greek verb, spark and Lithuanian sprógti (“to burst”),^[3] and Wiktionary gives the root as *(s)pregʰ- (“to scatter, jerk”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle sparto “loose, not gathered together” and the noun spargimento are recorded before 1294 in Brunetto Latini.^[2] The verb itself appears at the end of the 13th century in the Novellino, used reflexively for news that spreads and becomes known.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Dante has the verb for throwing things here and there and for pouring out a liquid.^[2] In Paradise he writes of the early popes “Sixtus and Pius, Calixtus and Urban shed their blood after much weeping” (E Sisto e Pio, Calisto e Urbano / sparser lo sangue dopo molto fleto).^[9] Dante almost always uses the participle sparto;^[2] sparso, with the sense “suffused”, occurs once in the Purgatorio.^[2] Sparso is in Petrarch before 1374, and has since become the normal form, with sparto left to poetry.^[2][10]

The verb was used for scattering people or animals (before 1333), for giving freely (before 1347), for giving off light or scent (1516, Ariosto) and for spreading news (1589); reflexive spargersi “to scatter” is recorded in 1612.^[2] Leopardi tells nature “you scatter pains with a generous hand” (pene tu spargi a larga mano).^[10][11] Fixed phrases are spargere lacrime “to weep”, spargere sangue “to wound or kill”, spargere sudore “to toil” and spargere zizzania “to sow discord”.^[4][10][12] In military language ordine sparso is the open order of troops in contact with the enemy (1873).^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the participle sparto and the noun spargimento.^[2]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses reflexive spargersi for news that spreads.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the verb for scattering things and for pouring.^[2]
• Before 1333 – Simintendi uses it for scattering people or animals.^[2]
• Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses it for giving freely.^[2]
• Before 1374 – Petrarch uses the participle sparso.^[2]
• 1516 – Ariosto uses the verb for giving off scent or light.^[2]
• 1589 – F. Serdonati uses it for spreading news.^[2]
• 1612 – N. Basta uses spargersi “to scatter”.^[2]
• 1873 – Ordine sparso is recorded in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To scatter, strew: spargere briciole per i passeri;^[4][13][10] (literary) spargere i capelli, to let one's hair down.^[4][13][10]
2. (transitive) To place people in several places, deploy: spargere vedette sulle colline.^[4][13]
3. (transitive) To spill, pour: ha sparso il caffè sul giornale;^[4][10] spargere lacrime, spargere sangue.^[4][10]
4. (transitive, uncommon) To sprinkle or cover with something: spargere di petali il sagrato.^[4][13]
5. (transitive) To give off, diffuse light, heat or a scent: la stufa spargeva un tepore piacevole.^[4][14]
6. (transitive, figurative) To spread news or rumours; to spread a feeling such as fear: spargere la voce;^[4][14] spargere il panico.^[4][14]
7. (transitive, literary) To bestow, give freely.^[4][10]
8. (transitive, obsolete) To squander.^[4][10]
9. (spargersi) To scatter, disperse; of news, to spread: i ragazzi si sparsero nel giardino.^[10][12][14]

Word family

• sparso
• spargimento
• spargitore
• cospargere
• spargisale
• spargipepe

Related words

• cospergere
• Latin spargō

Usage notes

The past historic is sparsi and the past participle sparso, poetic and archaic sparto; the auxiliary is avere.^[13][10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 r s 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3578
6. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse