trasmigrare

Forms

trasmigrare (first-person singular present trasmìgro, first-person singular past historic trasmigrài, past participle trasmigràto, auxiliary èssere or avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin trānsmigrō (“to move from one place to another”), formed from trāns- (“across, beyond”) and migrō (“to change residence, move”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin verb is in Livy and Suetonius, and the Vulgate has the noun trānsmigrātiō, the source of trasmigrazione.^[6][2][7] The Latin prefix has the Italian form tras-, by a crossing with the Italian prefix, as Devoto notes.^[8][1]

The Latin verb is probably formed from an adjective Proto-Italic *migro- “changing”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mi-gʷ-ro-, of the same stem as Ancient Greek ἀμείβω (ameíbō, “to change”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the verb to Florio's dictionary of 1598, with the sense “to move from one place to another and settle there”, said of people or animals, and notes an earlier passage of A. Piccolomini of 1565.^[2] There Piccolomini writes that a region is noble when its people have no memory of having trasmigrati (“migrated”) there from elsewhere.^[10] Zingarelli dates the word to the 14th century and DEI to the 17th, to Magalotti.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun came first: trasmigrazione is in Brunetto Latini, before 1294, and trasmigrante in the 14th-century Italian Bible.^[2][6] The verb was used of whole peoples and of armies moving to a new country, and in Savonarola of going into exile.^[10] Magalotti used it of flowers that thrive better where they are moved than where they grow.^[7]

Before 1742 G. B. Fagiuoli used it of qualities passed from one person to another: Non parlo come in voi sia trasmigrato / lo spirito gentil di Mecenate (“I do not say how the noble spirit of Maecenas has passed into you”).^[2][7] The religious sense, the passing of the soul into a new body, goes with trasmigrazione delle anime “metempsychosis”, recorded before 1673 in O. Rucellai.^[2][4]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses trasmigrazione.^[2]
• 14th century – Trasmigrante appears in the Italian Bible translation.^[6]
• 1565 – A passage of A. Piccolomini uses the verb.^[2][10]
• 1598 – Florio's dictionary records trasmigrare.^[2][4]
• Before 1673 – Trasmigrazione delle anime “metempsychosis” is recorded in O. Rucellai.^[2]
• Before 1742 – G. B. Fagiuoli uses it of qualities passed on to another person.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of peoples, to migrate or emigrate in large numbers, moving from their own country to another: Quelle tribù trasmigrarono verso le pianure.^{[4][11][12][5][13]}
2. (intransitive) Of animals, to migrate: In autunno le gru trasmigrano verso l'Africa.^{[4][11][12][14]}
3. (intransitive, figurative, rare) Of qualities or values, to be passed on from one person to another.^{[4][11][5][13][1]}
4. (intransitive, religion) Of the soul, in the doctrine of metempsychosis, to pass after death into another body.^{[4][11][12][5][1]}

Word family

• trasmigrazione
• trasmigramento
• trasmigrante

Related words

• migrare
• emigrare
• Latin trānsmigrō

Usage notes

The auxiliary is essere or avere;^[5][12][1] Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti give only essere for the figurative sense.^[5][12][1]

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 j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3869
7. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 451
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ 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. 21, 228
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli