trainare

Forms

trainare (first-person singular present tràino, first-person singular past historic trainài, past participle trainàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The old and popular form is Old Italian tranare.^[2][3]

Etymology

DELI and Nocentini take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *tragīnāre (“to drag along”), formed on a *tragere that stood beside classical Latin trahō (“to pull, drag”).^[2][4][5][6] Nocentini assumes an intermediate noun *tragīna “a tool for pulling or throwing”, supported by Ligurian trezinna and Occitan tragina (“fishing net”).^[4]

Many dictionaries consider it instead borrowed from Old French traïner, the ancestor of French traîner.^{[1][7][8][3][9]} Meyer-Lübke also derives the Italian verb from French.^[10] DELI holds that a French origin, for the verb and for the noun traino, is possible but not necessary, though the French verb and train are recorded from the 12th century.^[2][11] Prati doubts that the word passed through Old French.^[12]

The old form tranare, still alive in the dialects, shows the Tuscan reduction of the unstressed diphthong /ai/ to /a/.^[2] The same Vulgar Latin verb gave Occitan traginar and Catalan traginar, whence Spanish trajinar and Portuguese treinar (“to urge on dogs”), and Romanian trăgăna (“to drag things out”).^[4][10] The inherited trascinare is a doublet.^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are the old form tranare in Cecco Angiolieri, who died before 1313, and in Dante, and trainare in the Fiore (13th–14th century), with the sense “to pull, drag”.^[2] Battisti and Alessio cite Ricordano Malispini in the 13th century.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the older language the verb meant to drag something along with effort;^[13][11] Malispini tells of a man seized by the hair and dragged.^[13][11] Treccani notes that modern use is limited to particular cases, above all a locomotive, a tractor or a boat pulling a load or a vehicle behind it.^[8]

From the sense of towing grew a figurative one: a person, an example or an economic sector that “pulls” others along, and farsi trainare, to let oneself be led passively.^[5][14][6] The present participle trainante is recorded from the 14th century and is now often figurative, as in effetto trainante.^[4][8]

The noun traino meant a sledge and a load drawn by animals in the 14th century and the act of hauling from Varchi on.^[11][2] Traina, a towing line, is a nautical word of the 18th century, and pesca alla traina is trolling, fishing with a line drawn behind a boat.^[2] From tranare came tranello, a trick or snare, from the 14th century.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses tranare.^[2]
• 13th–14th century – Trainare appears in the Fiore.^[2]
• 1340 – Trainante is recorded at Impruneta.^[11]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses traino for a vehicle or load drawn along.^[2]
• Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses traino for the act of hauling.^[2]
• 1769 – Traino is recorded as a towing line in nautical use.^[2]
• 1813 – Stratico records traina.^[2]
• 1937 – Pesca alla traina is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tow or haul: to pull a load or a vehicle behind oneself: il trattore trainava un rimorchio pieno di fieno.^[5][14][7]
2. (figurative) To drive on or spur others, acting as a guide or an example: le esportazioni hanno trainato la ripresa.^[5][14][7]
3. farsi trainare: (colloquial) to let oneself be led passively.^[5][6][14]

Word family

• traino
• traina
• trainante
• trainato
• tranello

Related words

• trarre
• trascinare
• treno
• French traîner

Usage notes

The present is io tràino; an older stress traìno is obsolete.^[6] The form tranare is old and popular.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 449
10. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3855
12. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1007
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier