spostare

Forms

spostare (first-person singular present spòsto, first-person singular past historic spostài, past participle spostàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is a verb formed from Italian s- + posto (“place”) + -are, with s- in its sense of removal: “to put out of place”.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} GDLI traces the prefix to Latin ex-, which expresses moving away.^[6] The noun posto comes from Latin positus (“placed”), the past participle of pōnō (“to put”).^[7][1]

Wikizionario also mentions an explanation from moving an animal from stall, a posta, of the stable to another.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Vincenzo Galilei in 1584, with the sense “to move someone or something from its place”.^[2][3] Tommaseo quotes Galilei's dialogue on the lute, Fronimo, for the musical sense “to transpose”, of pieces that could be played senz'averle a spostare (“without having to transpose them”).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Anton Maria Salvini has the noun spostamento before 1728, and the reflexive “to move from one's place” is recorded in Milan in 1820.^[2] Tommaseo–Bellini (1873) gives a figurative sense “to upset, to unsettle financially”, which Zingarelli now marks as disused.^[2][9] Tommaseo also speaks of shifting an accent, as in umíle for umile.^[8]

The past participle spostato became a noun in 1876 for a misfit, someone out of place in society;^[2] Rigutini in 1886 accepted it though it matched French déplacé, and Panzini in 1905 called it typical of the age.^[2] Modern Italian also uses the verb for moving a date or appointment, for transferring an employee, and in chemistry for shifting an equilibrium.^[4][10][11]

Timeline

• 1584 – Vincenzo Galilei uses spostare.^[2][3]
• Before 1728 – Anton Maria Salvini uses spostamento.^[2]
• 1820 – The reflexive spostarsi is recorded in Milan.^[2]
• 1873 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the sense “to unsettle, to damage”.^[2]
• 1876 – Spostato “misfit” is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move, shift something from its place: Aiutami a spostare il divano verso la finestra.^{[4][10][11][1]}
2. To move a person aside: Mi ha spostato con una spallata.^[4][10]
3. To transfer to another place or office: L'hanno spostato nella sede di Torino.^{[4][10][11][1]}
4. To put off or bring forward in time, reschedule: Possiamo spostare la cena a venerdì?^{[4][10][11][1]}
5. (figurative) To change (plans, a situation).^[4][12][13]
6. (figurative) To turn (attention, a discussion) to something else.^[4][13]
7. (chemistry) To shift the equilibrium of a system.^[4][10]
8. (music, dated) To transpose.^[9][8]
9. (reflexive, spostarsi) To move, change position or place: Spostati un po', non vedo lo schermo.^[11][9][12]

Word family

• spostamento
• spostato
• spostabile

Related words

• posto
• porre

Usage notes

Non spostarsi di un passo is to stay put, or figuratively to refuse to budge from one's position.^[9][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli