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uscire

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word uscire

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 13th century, Novellino
Inherited from
Latin exeo
Ultimate origin
Latin eō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin exeo
Italian uscire
Italian uscita
From the same root
Italian riuscire ← uscire

Pronunciation

  • /uʃˈʃi.re/[1]

Forms

uscire (first-person singular present èsco, first-person singular past historic uscìi, past participle uscìto, auxiliary èssere)[1] Older and regional forms are escire, oscire (Jacopone) and usire.[2][1][3] The present has e- when the stem is stressed (esco, esci, escono) and u- when it is not (usciamo, uscite).[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin exeō (“to go out”), from ex- (“out”) and eō (“to go”).[6][7][8][1] The initial /u/ is due to the influence of uscio (“door”), a word of different origin but close in meaning.[6][7][1] The Latin /ks/ came out as /ʃ/ rather than /ss/, a development that is far from isolated.[6] Devoto–Oli explains the /u/ by the darkening of /e/ before the stress, and the older form escire kept the vowel.[4][2]

The Latin verb is found throughout the Romance languages: Old French issir (whence the participle French issu), Occitan eisir, Catalan eixir, Portuguese exir, Sardinian bessire and Romanian ieși.[7][9] In French and Spanish it gave way to the descendants of other verbs, French sortir and Spanish salir, and in the Italian dialects next to France it gave way to sortire.[10] Forms with /n/ from ne are Tuscan nuscire and Sicilian nèsciri, and in Calabria the verb has blended with the verb for “to be born”.[3][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the verb to the end of the 13th century, in the Novellino, for a living being going out of a closed or bounded place and for things or liquids coming out.[6] Dante uses it in the Convivio (1304–1307).[10]

Semantic evolution

Figurative uses followed early: Dante uses the verb for “to turn out, result”, and Giovanni Villani (before 1348) for “to come from, originate”.[6] From the 16th century it was said of a book coming out (Della Casa, before 1556) and of a name or number drawn by lot (1600).[6] Francesco Redi (before 1698) is the first to use it for going out for pleasure, and in 1891 Petrocchi records “to leave a state or condition”, especially as uscirne.[6] In modern use uscire con qualcuno means “to go out with someone, date”, and in football it is said of a goalkeeper leaving the goal line.[4][11]

The prefixed riuscire “to succeed” passed into French as réussir.[9] The noun uscita “exit, way out; expenditure” dates from Dante (1304–1308).[6]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – The Novellino uses the verb for going out of a place.[6]
  • 1304–1307 – Dante uses it in the Convivio.[10]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “to originate”.[6]
  • Before 1556 – Giovanni Della Casa uses it of a book being published.[6]
  • 1600 – The sense “to be drawn by lot” is recorded.[6]
  • Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses it for going out for pleasure.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go out, come out, leave an enclosed or bounded place: È uscito dall'ufficio alle sei.[8][4][1]
  2. To go out, especially for entertainment: Il sabato sera esco con gli amici.[8][11]
  3. uscire con: to go out with, date someone.[4][1]
  4. To leave a state, condition or period: uscire da una crisi.[8][6]
  5. Of a book, film or product, to come out, be published or released: Il suo nuovo disco esce a marzo.[11][6][1]
  6. Of a number or name, to be drawn in a lottery or by lot.[11][6]
  7. To come from, descend from, originate in.[6][1]
  8. (football) Of a goalkeeper, to come off the goal line to reach the ball; of the ball, to go out of play.[11]

Word family

  • uscio
  • uscirsene
  • esito
  • Latin exeo

Usage notes

Uscire takes the auxiliary essere.[1][12] Uscire di casa and uscire da casa are both used.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1031
  3. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3963
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 22, 291
  11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  13. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Derived terms

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Uscire.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/uscire. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·