trattenere

Forms

trattenere (first-person singular present trattèngo, first-person singular past historic tratténni or trattènni, past participle trattenùto, first-person singular future tratterrò, auxiliary avére)^[1] An older spelling is tratenere.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Italian tra- + tenere.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} DELI notes that the prefix is felt sometimes as a sense of movement, sometimes as a substitute for intra- “between”, as in intrattenere; the TLIO likewise derives the word from the simple verb or from Old Italian intratenere, and GDLI from Latin intrā (“within”) and the same verb.^[3][7][2] Devoto adds that it was influenced by trattare.^[8] Compare Sicilian trattèniri.^[1]

The base tenere continues Latin teneō (“to hold”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dino Compagni's chronicle (1310–1312), in the sense “to entertain, to make time pass pleasantly”.^[3][10] The TLIO's first record is Francesco da Buti's commentary on the Purgatorio (1385–1395), in the sense of holding someone back, stopping his advance.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The 16th century brought most of the modern senses: holding someone in a place (Giannotti, 1531, of people, Cellini, of things), making someone stay, not letting him go (Annibal Caro, before 1566), and the reflexive “to stop for a time” (Varchi, before 1565).^[3][5] Keeping something instead of handing it over is recorded in 1600, dissuading someone in 1694, holding back feelings and abstaining in 1879, and deducting a sum in 1891.^[3]

From the verb come trattenimento, a delay and then an entertainment (Annibal Caro), and trattenuta, the part of a wage withheld for taxes and contributions, first recorded in Venetian in 1829 and in Italian in 1922.^[3]

Timeline

• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses trattenere “to entertain”.^[3]
• 1385–1395 – Francesco da Buti uses it for holding someone back.^[7]
• 1531 – Donato Giannotti uses it for keeping people in a place.^[3][5]
• Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses trattenimento.^[3]
• 1694 – Paolo Segneri uses it for dissuading someone.^[3]
• 1891 – It is recorded for deducting a sum.^[3]
• 1922 – Trattenuta is recorded in Italian.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold back, restrain, stop someone from leaving or falling: L'ho trattenuto per la giacca.^[5][6][11]
2. To keep someone in a place by force or authority; to detain: Lo hanno trattenuto in caserma tutta la notte.^[5][6][11]
3. To make someone stay or delay: Mi hanno trattenuto a cena. In polite formulas: non ti trattengo, I won't keep you.^[5][6][11]
4. To dissuade someone from doing or saying something.^[5][6]
5. (uncommon) To entertain guests or an audience.^[5][6][11]
6. To keep something rather than hand it over; to delay a document.^[5][11]
7. To hold in, suppress a feeling or reaction: trattenere il respiro, trattenere le lacrime.^[5][11]
8. To deduct a sum from a payment: Gli trattengono le tasse dallo stipendio.^[5][11][1]

Word family

• trattenimento
• trattenuta
• trattenersi
• trattenitore

Related words

• tenere
• intrattenere
• ritenere
• trattare

Usage notes

The pronominal trattenersi means “to stay, stop somewhere for a while” and “to refrain from”.^[3][1] The verb is conjugated like tenere.^[6][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
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. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3873
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse