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tenere

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Pronunciation

Forms

tenere (first-person singular present tèngo, first-person singular past historic ténni or tènni, past participle tenùto, first-person singular future terrò, auxiliary avére)[1] Old and regional forms include tegnere, tenire and tignere, with tègno for tengo in the present.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin teneō (“to hold; to keep; to possess”).[5][6][7][1] The verb lives on in all Romance languages: French tenir, Occitan tenir, Catalan tenir, Spanish tener, Portuguese ter, Sardinian tènnere and Romanian ține.[6][8] In Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and much of Sardinia and southern Italy it took the place of habeō (“to have”) in forming past tenses.[8][6]

The Latin verb is a stative present of Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”), the root of tendere.[5][9][1] Its cognates include Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”), Sanskrit तनोति (tanóti, “stretches”) and Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ufþanjan, “to extend”).[9][1] Devoto explains the ⟨-ē-⟩ of the present as an extension stressing duration, while the old perfect ⟨tetinī⟩ keeps the bare root.[10] From “to stretch” the verb developed the sense “to hold fast, keep”, then “to hold in the hand, possess”, and finally the general “to have”.[6] Latin teneō is also the base of attenere, contenere, detenere, ottenere, ritenere, tenace, tenaglia and tenore.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the verb to the second half of the 13th century.[7] DELI's earliest dated senses, “to take, keep for oneself” and “to occupy in order to keep”, are in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century.[5] The Novellino also uses it for holding something in the hand: “Tenne il pane sopra il vasello, e ricevea il fummo che n’usciva” (he held the bread over the pot and caught the steam that came out of it).[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the verb for keeping something in a position or condition and for restraining, in 1300–1313, and the reflexive tenersi for clinging to avoid a fall in 1313–1319.[5] A Sienese statute of 1323 has the intransitive sense “to be valid” in the formula valga e tenga.[5] Boccaccio uses it for “to consider, regard” in 1341–1342, and Cellini, before 1571, for the capacity of a container.[5] The set phrase non c'è … che tenga “there is no … that counts” dates from the 17th century and is modelled on French.[5]

In the south tenere also means “to have” (tengo fame); the GDLI sees Spanish influence in some of these uses, which are regional today.[2][7] Derivatives include tenuta, a large farm estate before 1348 and an outfit from 1824, and tenente (1611), taken from luogotenente.[5][6] Old Italian also used the infinitive as a noun, il tenere, for a sword hilt, a landed property or a territory.[11][12][13]

Timeline

  • End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses tenere for “keep for oneself”.[5]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “keep in a position” and “restrain”.[5]
  • 1323 – A Sienese statute uses it for “to be valid”.[5]
  • 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses it for “to consider”.[5]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses tenuta for a landed estate.[5]
  • Before 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini uses it for the capacity of a container.[5]
  • 1611 – Tenente “lieutenant” is recorded.[5]
  • 17th century – Non c'è … che tenga appears.[5]
  • 1942 – Tenutario “keeper of a gambling den or brothel” is in the Zingarelli.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hold something so that it does not fall or move: Tieni il manico con tutte e due le mani.[7][14][4]
  2. To hold someone back, restrain: Tenetelo fermo![7][4]
  3. To keep something or someone in a position or condition: Tieni gli occhi chiusi.[7][15]
  4. To keep for oneself: Il libro tienilo tu, io l’ho già letto.[7][4]
  5. To keep aside, reserve: tenere un posto a qualcuno.[7]
  6. (regional, southern) To have.[7][4][1]
  7. To hold, contain a quantity: Il teatro tiene mille spettatori.[7][4]
  8. To run (a business), hold (an office): tenere un bar.[7][4]
  9. To hold (a meeting, lesson or speech).[7][1]
  10. To keep (a promise, one's word).[7]
  11. (military) To hold, defend a position.[7][4]
  12. To consider, regard: tutti lo tengono per un esperto.[7][5]
  13. (intransitive) To hold, resist a strain; of glue, to stick; of a container, not to leak.[7][5]
  14. (reflexive) Tenersi, to hold on to avoid falling; to keep to a direction or a rule.[5][7]

Word family

  • tenente
  • sottotenente
  • tenenza
  • tenuta
  • tenutario
  • trattenere
  • trattenuta
  • trattenimento
  • intrattenere
  • intrattenimento
  • intrattenitore
  • rattenere

Usage notes

The imperative tieni joins pronouns as tienimi or tiemmi, tienilo or tiello, and tienti is the imperative of tenersi.[3] Colloquially tieni “here, take it” is shortened to tie’ or te’.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 871
  3. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 441
  11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 884
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 985
  14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana