Etymologically
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spegnere

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈspeɲ.ɲe.re/[1]
  • Traditional: /ˈspɛɲ.ɲe.re/[1]

Forms

spegnere or (traditional) spègnere (first-person singular present spéngo or (traditional) spèngo, first-person singular past historic spénsi or (traditional) spènsi, past participle spénto or (traditional) spènto, auxiliary avére)[1] Spengere is the Tuscan and literary form; older Italian also had espingere.[2][3][4] Old and dialect forms include spegnare, spennere and spignere.[5]

Etymology

It probably continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *expingere (“to discolour, wipe out”), from ex- (“out”) and pingō (“to colour, paint”).[6][7][3][1] The meaning “put out a fire” is usually explained by the influence of Latin exstinguō (“to extinguish”) and of a verb extingō (“to discolour”) confused with it.[6][7][8] GRADIT calls the origin uncertain.[9] Meyer-Lübke saw the standard verb as Sienese, taken into the written language.[10]

Devoto explains the infinitive as remodelled on forms where ⟨-gni-⟩ came from ⟨-ngi-⟩, such as the second person expingis, Italian ⟨spegni⟩; the alternation between ⟨spegnere⟩ and ⟨spengere⟩ goes back to this.[8][6] In Umbria the verb crossed with estinguere, and at Lucca and Pistoia ⟨spegnà⟩ shows the influence of smorzare.[11] The Latin verb for “paint” goes back to a nasal present Proto-Indo-European *pi-n-ḱ- (“to paint, adorn”).[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record DELI gives is reflexive, “to die”, in Ghiberti around 1235; the transitive “to kill” follows in Muscia da Siena before 1288.[6] Bono Giamboni uses the verb in 1292 for “to fade away”, and Dante for putting out a fire or a light.[6][9]

Semantic evolution

From putting out a fire the verb spread to ending anything that burns or shines and, figuratively, to quenching thirst, damping feelings and closing a debt or account (Marco Polo's translator, early 14th century).[6][9] In Dante it also means “to kill”, a sense now only literary.[2][13] Spegnere la calce is to slake lime, and spegnere la farina to work flour with water.[13][14]

With electricity it came to mean switching off an appliance: spegnere la radio is recorded in 1942, and the reflexive for a machine that stops in 1960.[6] The reflexive spegnersi is also a gentle way of saying that someone has died.[3][13]

Timeline

  • c. 1235 – Ghiberti uses the reflexive for “to die”.[6]
  • Before 1288 – Muscia da Siena uses it for “to kill”.[6]
  • 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “to fade away”.[6]
  • 1295 – The noun spegnimento is recorded.[6]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for putting out a fire.[6]
  • Before 1494 – Spegnitoio, the candle snuffer, is recorded.[6]
  • 1942 – Spegnere la radio is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To put out, extinguish a fire, flame or cigarette.[9][2][3]
  2. To switch off a light, engine or electrical appliance: Spegni il computer prima di uscire.[9][2][3]
  3. (figurative) To muffle a sound or dull a colour.[9][2]
  4. (figurative) To quench thirst or hunger; to stifle a feeling or end a dispute.[9][3]
  5. (finance) To pay off a debt or close an account.[9][2][14]
  6. To slake quicklime with water.[9][13]
  7. (literary) To kill.[9][2][13]
  8. (reflexive, spegnersi) To go out, stop working; to fade; of a person, to die.[3][13]

Word family

  • spegnimento
  • spegnitoio
  • spento
  • spegnibile
  • spegnitore
  • spegnersi
  • spegnitura
  • estinguere
  • pingere
  • dipingere
  • smorzare
  • accendere

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 796
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3583
  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. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana