sempre Italian · revision 37566

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1243, Guido Faba|origins=la semper}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsɛm.pre/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sempre''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms are ''sempro'' and ''sempri''.^(DEI|3451)^(Prati 1951|908)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|semper|t=always]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is [[fro|sempre]], [[oc|sempre]], [[ca|sempre]], [[es|siempre]] and [[pt|sempre]], but it did not survive in Romanian, and in French it was later replaced by [[fr|toujours]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3451)^(REW 1935) In Old French and Old Occitan it meant “at once”.^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin word is a compound of [[m|la|sem-|t=one]], the root of [[m|la|semel|t=once]], and a suffix [[m|la|-per]], so that it meant “once for all”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The root is [[ine-pro|*sem-|t=one]], also in [[grc|εἷς|tr=heîs|t=one]] and [[sa|सकृत्|tr=sakṛ́t|t=once]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968|400)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Guido Faba, before 1243, in the sense “without interruption, without end”.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the word to the 13th century, GRADIT to the end of that century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “every time” is in Boccaccio in 1353, and Tommaseo–Bellini records “still, yet” (''abita sempre lì'') in 1873.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian strengthened it as ''sempre mai'' or ''mai sempre'', as in Petrarch's “per far sempre mai verdi i miei desiri” (to keep my desires ever green).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Prati 1951|908) Leopardi's “Sempre caro mi fu quest'ermo colle” (this lonely hill was always dear to me) is the opening of ''L'infinito''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ The conjunction ''sempre che'' “provided that” is in Giovan Maria Cecchi before 1587.^(DELI 1999) Compounds name plants: ''sempreviva'' (around 1350) and ''semprevivo'' (1476), after Latin ''sempervivum'', and ''sempreverde'' “evergreen” (1561 written separately).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) As a musical direction, “throughout”, ''sempre'' passed into English in 1801 and German in 1802.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1243 – Guido Faba uses ''sempre''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Around 1350 – ''Sempreviva'' in the Italian translation of Crescenzi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “every time”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1476 – ''Semprevivo'' in Cristoforo Landino.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – ''Sempre verde'' in Alessandro Citolini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1587 – ''Sempre che'' “provided that” in Cecchi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1801 – English borrows ''sempre'' as a musical term.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1873 – The sense “still” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|always]], at all times, without end: ''è sempre andata così'', ''ti penserò sempre''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Every time, regularly: ''il sabato pranziamo sempre dai nonni''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In exclamations of annoyance: ''sempre le stesse scuse!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # With a comparative, more and more: ''sempre più caldo'', ''sempre meno''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|still]]: ''lavori sempre in banca?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' Throughout, all along: ''sempre piano''.^(DIFIT)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sempreverde]]

+ * [[semprevivo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[semplice]]

+ * [[sempiterno]]

+ * [[mai]]

+ * [[la|semper]]

+ * [[es|siempre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''per sempre'' (for ever), ''da sempre'' (always, since time immemorial), ''di sempre'' (the usual), ''una volta per sempre'' (once and for all) and ''sempre tuo'' (ever yours) at the end of a letter.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}