svolgere

Forms

svolgere (first-person singular present svòlgo, first-person singular past historic svòlsi, past participle svòlto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The poetic form is svolvere.^[2][3][4][5] Tuscan and Sienese variants include svollere and svoggere.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Italian s- + volgere.^[7][8][9][1] The sources differ on the prefix: Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti see an intensive prefix, the GDLI the intensive Latin ex-, while the Treccani dictionary reads it in the sense of undoing, as in the contrary avvolgere.^{[8][2][3][6][10][4]} The base verb is from Latin volvō (“to roll, turn”), remade on its present tense.^[8][1] The same verb is Piedmontese svòlge.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the reflexive svolversi “to free oneself” in Petrarch, before 1374: E s'io mi svolvo dal tenace visco (“and if I free myself from the clinging birdlime”).^[7][9][10] Svolgersi in the same sense appears in a 14th-century Bible translation.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The transitive “to unroll, spread out what is wrapped” is recorded in 1556 (Daniele Barbaro, Luigi Alamanni), and “to develop, treat at length” before 1565 in Varchi.^[7] Tommaseo also gives svolgere un libro “to leaf through a book”, and Manzoni used the verb for “to dissuade”.^[5][9][10]

Svolgersi “to unfold” is recorded in 1659 (Castelli), and the now common “to take place, be set” only in 1916.^[7] The sense “to carry out a series of actions towards an end” entered the Zingarelli dictionary in 1922.^[7] Svolgimento is recorded in 1611 in Florio and as a school essay on a set subject in 1873.^[7]

Timeline

• Before 1374 – Petrarch uses svolversi.^[7]
• 1556 – Daniele Barbaro uses svolgere “to unroll”.^[7][5]
• Before 1565 – Varchi uses it for “to develop, treat at length”.^[7]
• 1611 – Florio records svolgimento.^[7]
• 1659 – Castelli uses svolgersi “to unfold”.^[7]
• 1916 – Svolgersi “to take place” is recorded.^[7]
• 1922 – The Zingarelli dictionary records “to carry out”.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To unroll, unwind: to undo or spread out what is wrapped or rolled up: svolgere una matassa.^{[9][2][3][4][1]}
2. (transitive, figurative) To develop a subject, treating it at length: svolgere un tema, to write a school essay.^[9][2][3][1]
3. (transitive) To carry out, perform; to hold a job or office: Svolge da anni il lavoro di infermiera.^{[9][2][3][4][1]}
4. (transitive, literary) To dissuade, turn someone away from something.^[9][2][4]
5. (transitive, uncommon) To leaf through a book.^[9][2][4]
6. (svolgersi) To unwind; to unfold before the eyes.^[2][3][4]
7. (svolgersi) To take place, happen; of a story, to be set: Il romanzo si svolge a Trieste.^{[2][3][4][11]}

Word family

• svolgimento
• risvolgere
• svolgitore

Related words

• volgere
• avvolgere
• svolta
• Latin volvō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana