traditore

Forms

traditore m (plural traditori, feminine traditrice)^[1] Old forms include traitore, tradetore and tradictore; the popular feminine traditora survives in alla traditora.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin trāditor (“one who hands over”), formed from trādō (“to hand over”) with the agent suffix -tor, and it followed the meaning of tradire.^[4][5][6][1] The sense “betrayer” spread in the Christian Latin of the 4th century, from the name given to the bishops who had handed over sacred books and vessels to the pagan authorities in the persecution of Diocletian.^[2][7] Zingarelli calls it a learned word, and GRADIT forms it in Italian from the verb with the suffix -tore.^[3][8]

The word is found across Romance: Logudorese traitore, Old French traitre (modern French traître), Old Occitan traidor, Spanish traidor and Portuguese traidor.^[9][10] Meyer-Lübke took the Romance forms for old book words.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form traitor is in Gerardo Patecchio, in the 13th century: a traitor or a thief gets nothing from being rich.^[2] DELI finds traditore in laude of the 13th century and in Dante (1300–1313), who writes of il traditor ch'i' rodo, the traitor whose head Ugolino gnaws.^[5][11]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective (1374, Petrarch) it means “that betrays”, and of eyes “seductive”, already in Dante before 1321.^[5] Vino traditore is wine that seems light but makes one drunk.^[8][3] The noun also names an unfaithful partner.^[8][1]

The saying traduttore, traditore, “translator, traitor”, holds that every translation betrays its author; it has been quoted in French and, from the 20th century, in English.^[12][7]

Timeline

• 13th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses traitor.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses traditore.^[5]
• Before 1321 – Dante calls eyes traditori, “seductive”.^[5]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses the adjective.^[5]
• 20th century – Traduttori traditori is quoted in English.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A traitor, someone who breaks faith or an obligation: Lo hanno trattato come un traditore della causa.^[8][11][13]
2. Someone unfaithful to a spouse or partner.^[8][11][1]

Adjective

1. treacherous, that betrays.^[8][11][13]
2. Deceptive, harmless in appearance: Attento, quel gradino è traditore.^[8][14]

Word family

• traditoresco

Related words

• tradire
• tradimento
• tradizione
• Latin traditor

Usage notes

The feminine is traditrice.^[11][13][1] Alla traditora means “treacherously, by surprise”.^[8][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21
3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli