vincere

Forms

vincere (first-person singular present vìnco, first-person singular past historic vìnsi, past participle vìnto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vincō (“to conquer, overcome”).^[2][3][4][1] The same verb is French vaincre, Occitan venser, Catalan vencer, Spanish vencer, Portuguese vencer, Sardinian bìnchere and Romanian învinge.^[3][5] The past participle vinto took its /n/ from the present stem, whereas the Latin participle victus gave the learned vittoria through victōria.^[2]

The Latin verb is traced to a root with a nasal infix, Proto-Italic *winkō, from Proto-Indo-European *wi-n-k-.^[1][6] Nocentini and DEI take its first meaning to be “to fight”, of which winning is the outcome, and compare Old Irish fichid (“to fight”) and Old High German wīgan (“to fight”).^[3][7][8] De Vaan instead derives it from the root of Latin vinciō (“to bind”), “to bend, tie”, since bending another can come to mean overcoming him.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the verb to the middle of the 13th century, and DEI finds the form véncere in Iacopone da Todi.^[3][7] DELI's first sense, “to bring something to a good end”, is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, and “to beat an opponent” is in Dante (before 1321).^[2] Dante compares Brunetto Latini running off to the racers at Verona and says he seemed “quelli che vince, non colui che perde” (the one who wins, not the one who loses).^[9]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio (1348–1353) uses the verb for winning what one competed for, and figuratively for “to subdue”.^[2] Ariosto (1532) uses it for “to surpass”, and Annibal Caro (before 1566) for words that “win over” a listener.^[2] The intransitive use is recorded in a Milanese paper in 1819, and the reflexive vincersi “to master oneself” in 1839.^[2]

Derivatives include vincitore (13th–14th century), vincita “a win”, later “winnings” (1831), and rivincita “return match” (1834).^[2][3] Vittoria di Pirro (1879) recalls King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who is said to have feared another such victory over the Romans at Asculum.^[2] The proverb chi la dura la vince praises persistence.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – First record of vincere.^[3]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses it for bringing something to a good end.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for defeating an opponent.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for gaining a prize and for “to subdue”.^[2]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses it for “to surpass”.^[2]
• 1819 – The intransitive use is recorded.^[2]
• 1879 – Vittoria di Pirro is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To defeat, beat an enemy or opponent: Ieri la nostra squadra ha vinto i campioni in carica.^{[4][12][13][1]}
2. (transitive) To win a war, battle, match, game or election: vincere la partita.^[4][12][11]
3. (transitive) To win a prize or post: Ha vinto una borsa di studio.^[4][13][11]
4. (transitive) To surpass someone in a quality: Nessuno la vince in pazienza.^[4][10]
5. (transitive) To overcome a difficulty or obstacle.^[4][13][1]
6. (transitive) To persuade, win over: Alla fine è stato vinto dalle sue preghiere.^[4][13][10]
7. (transitive) To master hunger, sleep, fear or a passion.^[4][13][1]
8. (intransitive) To win, prevail: Ha vinto il candidato più giovane.^[4][10][1]

Word family

• vincente
• vincibile
• vincita
• vincitore
• vinto
• vittoria
• vittorioso
• invincibile
• rivincere
• rivincita
• stravincere
• vinciperdi
• vincetossico

Related words

• convincere
• evincere
• Latin vinco

Usage notes

The past historic is vinsi and the past participle vinto (archaic vitto).^[12][13] Vincerla or averla vinta means “to get one's way”.^[11]

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 l m n 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 d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4057
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 880
10. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse