pensare Italian · revision 37471

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 12th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio (Marche)|origins=la pendō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /penˈsa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pensare''' (first-person singular present pènso, first-person singular past historic pensài, past participle pensàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is [[roa-oit|penzare]].^(DEI|2836)^(GDLI) Old Italian forms also include ''pansare'' and ''pemsare''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|pēnsō|t=to weigh carefully; to consider]], an intensive verb formed on [[m|la|pēnsum]], the past participle of [[m|la|pendō|t=to hang; to weigh]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The meaning “think” grew out of “weigh”, the same shift seen in [[ponderare]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2836) The verb also gave [[pesare]] “weigh”, its doublet.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The word did not develop quite like an inherited one: it keeps the cluster ⟨-ns-⟩, which elsewhere became ⟨-s-⟩, as in ⟨pesare⟩.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) Nocentini explains this by the abstract verb having passed through the written language before it returned to speech.^(Nocentini 2010) DELI quotes Migliorini, who counts it among words that are either semi-learned loans of the first millennium or survivals in the speech of the educated classes,^(DELI 1999) and DEI calls it a learned word.^(DEI|2836)

+

+ The same verb is [[fr|penser]], [[ca|pensar]], [[es|pensar]] and [[pt|pensar]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2836) DEI notes that it belongs to Italian and western Romance.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2836) Latin ⟨pendō⟩ goes back to [[itc-pro|*pendō|alt=*pend-e/o-|t=to hang]]; de Vaan connects it, with doubts, with a root for spinning or with a root meaning “fall”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'', a poem from the Marche of the second half of the 12th century.^(TLIO) GRADIT and DELI date the verb to before 1250, when Giacomo da Lentini uses it for keeping one's thoughts fixed on someone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999) The TLIO's oldest senses include “reflect, meditate”, “believe, judge”, “imagine”, “remember” and, in love poetry, “long for the beloved”.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The infinitive was used as a noun from the 13th century, in the poetry of the Sicilian school and in Patecchio of Cremona: Giacomo da Lentini speaks of ''lo meo dolce penzare'' “my sweet thinking”.^(TLIO)^(GDLI) The sense “consider attentively” is recorded before 1294 in Brunetto Latini, “devise” in Dante, “intend” before 1566 in Annibal Caro, and “provide for, see to” before 1634.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Pensiero'' “thought” came into Italian through [[pro|pensier]].^(DELI 1999) ''Libero pensatore'' “freethinker” (1776) is a calque of French ''libre penseur'' (1763), itself a calque of English ''freethinker''.^(DELI 1999) ''Pensatoio'', a joking word for a room for thinking, translates Greek ''phrontistḗrion'', Socrates' “thinking shop” in Aristophanes' ''Clouds''.^(Nocentini 2010) The verb passed into the Greek dialects of southern Italy as ''πενσέω''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 12th century – The ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'' (Marche) has the verb.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''pensare'' and the noun ''pensare'' “thought”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * Before 1250 – ''Pensamento'' “thinking, meditation”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – ''Pensata'' “idea” in Bono Giamboni.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1293–1294 – ''Pensiero'' in Dante.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Penzare'' is recorded.^(DEI|2836)

+ * 1776 – ''Libero pensatore'' “freethinker”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|think]], use the mind; to reflect: ''Prima di rispondere, pensaci bene.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To think of or about someone or something (with ''a''); to remember: ''Penso spesso alla casa dei nonni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|believe]], hold an opinion: ''Penso che domani pioverà.''^(TLIO)^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To imagine or picture: ''Pensa a quanto saremo contenti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(TLIO)

+ # To intend, plan to do something: ''Penso di partire a giugno.''^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To see to, look after (with ''a''): ''Alla cena ci penso io.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In the imperative, to draw attention to something surprising: ''E pensa, non mi ha nemmeno salutato!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pensabile]]

+ * [[pensamento]]

+ * [[pensante]]

+ * [[pensata]]

+ * [[pensatoio]]

+ * [[pensatore]]

+ * [[pensoso]]

+ * [[pensosità]]

+ * [[ripensare]]

+ * [[ripensamento]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pensiero]]

+ * [[pesare]]

+ * [[ponderare]]

+ * [[la|pēnsō]]

+ * [[fr|penser]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''pensarci su'' “think it over”, ''pensarci due volte'' “think twice” and ''dare da pensare'' “cause worry”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The noun ''il pensare'' “thinking, thought” is literary.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}