spedire

Forms

spedire (first-person singular present spedìsco, first-person singular past historic spedìi, past participle spedìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin expediō (“to free, to disentangle; to settle; to prepare”), a popular outcome of the Latin verb with the initial ⟨e-⟩ lost.^[2][3][4] The form without ⟨e-⟩ is found only in Italo-Romance, where Friulian spedì also has it, and in a few Spanish records of the late 15th century.^[4] The inherited forms elsewhere keep the vowel: Old Occitan espedir, Catalan espedir and Old Spanish espedirse, the last in the Cid of about 1140.^[4] Prefixed Portuguese despir (“to undress”) and espir belong here too.^[5][6]

The Latin verb is formed with ex- (“away from”) on pēs (“foot”), properly “to free the feet from fetters”, the opposite of impediō, from which impedire comes.^{[7][8][9][10][3]} Its participle expedītus (“unencumbered, lightly equipped”) and the noun expedītiō gave spedito and spedizione.^[3][2] The learned form of the verb is espedire.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's first record is a Sienese wool guild statute of 1298, where spedire means to deal with formal and official business.^[4] Before 1313 Dante uses the reflexive spedirsi for a part of the body freeing itself to move: lo piè sanza la man non si spedia (“the foot could not get free without the hand”).^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

Giovanni Villani, before 1348, used the verb for “to conclude, to dispatch business”.^[3][4] In the 16th century it took on the sense of sending: Guidiccioni, before 1541, used it for sending someone promptly on an errand, and in 1579 it is recorded in law for deciding a case.^[3][4] Brusoni, before 1686, used it for sending letters and goods, today's main sense.^[3][11]

German borrowed the word as German spedieren in 1585–1589.^[12] Bacchelli used spedire for “to kill” in 1938, as in spedire all’altro mondo.^[4][13] The family is older than the main sense: speditamente “quickly” is recorded before 1294 in Brunetto Latini, and Dante has spedito “quick”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1298 – A Sienese wool guild statute uses spedire for dealing with official business.^[4]
• Before 1313 – Dante uses the reflexive spedirsi.^[4]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses spedire for “to conclude, to dispatch”.^[3]
• Before 1541 – Guidiccioni uses it for sending someone on an errand.^[3]
• 1579 – It is recorded in law for “to decide a case”.^[4]
• 1585–1589 – German spedieren is first recorded.^[12]
• Before 1686 – Brusoni uses it for sending letters or goods.^[3]
• 1938 – Bacchelli uses it for “to kill”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To send, to ship by post or another means of transport: Ti spedisco il pacco domani per corriere.^[13][14][15]
2. To send a person somewhere on an errand: Lo hanno spedito in farmacia. Figuratively spedire all’altro mondo, to kill.^[13][14][15]
3. (nautical) To provide a ship with the papers and permits it needs to sail.^[13]
4. (law) To bring a case to the stage of decision, to decide it.^[13][14]
5. To draw up and issue a papal document: spedire una bolla.^[13][14]
6. (pharmacy) To make up a prescription: spedire una ricetta.^[14][15]
7. (dated) To settle, to dispatch a matter or task.^[13][14][9]

Word family

• speditamente
• speditezza
• spedito
• speditore
• spedizione
• spedizioniere
• speditivo

Related words

• espedire
• impedire
• Latin expediō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 22, 653
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3583
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli