volere Italian · revision 37448

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1219|origins=ine-pro *welh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /voˈle.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''volere''' (first-person singular present vòglio, first-person singular past historic vòlli, past participle volùto, first-person singular future vorrò, second-person singular imperative vògli, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and literary forms include ''vo’'' (Tuscan, before a verb) and ''vuò'' for ''voglio'', ''vuoli'' for ''vuoi'', ''vole'' for ''vuole'', ''volemo'' for ''vogliamo'' and ''vonno'' for ''vogliono'', and the past historic ''volsi'' beside ''volli''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*voleō|alt=*volēre]], the Vulgar Latin form that replaced the irregular classical infinitive of [[la|volō|alt=velle|t=to want]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The new infinitive was built on the present stem of the verb, as in “volo” “I want”,^(Nocentini 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) and modelled on [[potere]], Vulgar Latin [[m|la-vul|*poteō|alt=*potēre]] for classical [[m|la|possum|alt=posse]]: both verbs had perfects in “-ui”, like the regular second-conjugation verbs of the type [[m|la|timeō|t=to fear]].^(DEI)^(Devoto 1968)^(DELI 1999) Forms of the remade verb appear in late texts, [[la-lat|volemus]] in the 8th century and [[m|la-lat|voles]] in the 9th, and [[m|la-lat|volet]] may already occur in Petronius.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The same verb is [[fr|vouloir]], [[oc|voler]], [[ca|voler]] and [[ro|vrea]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The classical verb goes back to [[ine-pro|*welh₁-|t=to choose, wish]];^(de Vaan 2008) its relatives include [[cu|волити|tr=voliti|t=to want]], [[lt|vélti|t=to wish, prefer]], [[got|𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=wiljan|t=to want]], [[goh|wellan]] and [[ang|willan]], the ancestor of English [[m|en|will]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb is first recorded in 1219.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) At the end of the 13th century the ''Novellino'' and Brunetto Latini use it for being firmly resolved to do or to obtain something.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The auxiliary use, ''volere'' with an infinitive, goes back to Latin, where ''rogare te volo'' “I want to ask you” could stand for a plain future “I will ask you”;^(DELI 1999) Old French and the popular French of Paris also gave the construction a future sense.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Dante (1300–1313) has most of the modern senses: demanding that someone else act, being of firm will, needing or requiring something, and the will of a higher power, as in the line “vuolsi così colà dove si puote / ciò che si vuole” (it is so willed where what is willed can be done).^(DELI 1999) The sense “to believe, maintain” is in his ''Convivio'' (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio (1348–1353) uses it for intense desire, Luigi Pulci (before 1484) the softening conditional ''vorrei'', and Tommaseo–Bellini (1879) records the sense “to ask a price”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The infinitive used as a noun, “will”, dates from Dante (before 1321): “Ben fiorisce ne li uomini il volere” (the will blossoms well in men, ''Paradiso'' 27); the plural ''voleri'', “intentions”, is in Boccaccio.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) ''Voler bene'', “to love”, has a Latin precedent in Catullus' ''bene velle'',^(DELI 1999) while ''volerne a qualcuno'', “to bear someone a grudge”, is a Gallicism from French ''en vouloir à quelqu'un'' (from 1636).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – First record of the verb.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' and Brunetto Latini use it for “to be resolved to do”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “to demand” and “to require”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the infinitive as a noun, “will”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for intense desire, and the plural ''voleri'' “intentions”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses the conditional to soften a wish.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1636 – French ''en vouloir à'' is recorded, the model of ''volerne a''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the sense “to ask a price”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To be [[m|en|determined]] to do or to get something: ''vuole finire la tesi entro giugno''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|intend]], in a weaker sense: ''non volevo disturbarla''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|want]], [[m|en|wish]], [[m|en|desire]], often in the conditional in polite requests: ''vorrei un caffè, per favore''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|demand]] something of someone: ''il direttore vuole il rapporto entro stasera''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of things, to need, [[m|en|require]]: ''queste piante vogliono molta luce''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In polite formulas, to be so kind as to: ''vuole sedersi?''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # In set phrases: ''voler bene'', to love, be fond of, ''voler dire'', to mean.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|will]], wish: ''il volere degli elettori''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Intentions, purposes.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[volente]]

+ * [[voglia]]

+ * [[rivolere]]

+ * [[disvolere]]

+ * [[benvolere]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[volontà]]

+ * [[volontario]]

+ * [[volentieri]]

+ * [[nolente]]

+ * [[la|volō]]

+ * [[fr|vouloir]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ As a modal verb ''volere'' usually takes the auxiliary of the verb that follows (''è voluta restare'', ''ha voluto mangiare''), though ''avere'' is common with intransitive verbs too, to stress the will; with a reflexive verb the auxiliary is ''essere'' if the pronoun comes first and ''avere'' if it is attached to the infinitive (''non si è voluto fermare'', ''non ha voluto fermarsi'').^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ The proverb ''l'erba “voglio” non cresce nemmeno nel giardino del re'' (“I want” does not grow even in the king's garden) is said to someone who makes too many demands.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}