padre Italian · revision 37620

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, in the form patre|origins=ine-pro *ph₂tḗr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpa.dre/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''padre''' ''m'' (plural padri, pejorative (usually jocular) padraccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old form is [[roa-oit|patre]], used by Iacopone and Dante.^(Prati 1951|723)^(DELI 1999) Old Tuscan and Umbrian had [[roa-oit|pate]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2718)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|roa-oit|patre]], [[inh|la|pater|t=father]], from the accusative ⟨patrem⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word is continued across the Romance languages, as [[fr|père]], [[oc|paire]], [[ca|pare]], [[es|padre]] and [[pt|padre]], but not in Romanian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2718)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The /d/ for Latin /t/ is the voicing of northern Italy, not the Tuscan outcome.^(Devoto 1968|312)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DEI calls it a word of northern origin that was replaced by [[babbo]] in Tuscany, Umbria and the Marche, where ⟨pate⟩ was once used.^(DEI|2718) Giuliano Bonfante, quoted by DELI, observed that in spoken Tuscan the words for father and mother (with [[madre]]) simply do not exist, so they must have come from the north, perhaps through the notaries of the Carolingian period.^(DELI 1999) Meyer-Lübke noted that the written form reached the dialects slowly in Italy, where the nursery words ⟨pappa⟩ and ⟨babbo⟩ had often driven out the old word, while in southern Italy the written form in turn displaced ⟨tata⟩.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin noun named the father first of all as the legal and sacred head of the family, and it is an old Indo-European word: [[grc|πατήρ|tr=patḗr]], [[sa|पितृ|tr=pitṛ́]], [[goh|fater]] (modern [[de|Vater]], English [[m|en|father]]).^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2718) It comes from [[itc-pro|*patēr]], [[ine-pro|*ph₂tḗr]].^(Wiktionary) DEI notes its religious value in the name of Jupiter, “father god”, and its replacement in popular Latin by the nursery words ⟨pappa⟩ and ⟨tata⟩.^(DEI|2718)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest form is ''patre'', which GRADIT and Nocentini date to about 1050.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI's first record is in the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'' of the 12th century, with the sense “man who has fathered one or more children”;^(DELI 1999) GDLI quotes it: “Lu patre ne fo letificatu” (the father was gladdened by it).^(GDLI|12, 335) The form ''padre'' appears at the end of the 13th century, in the ''Novellino'' and in Guittone d'Arezzo, who died in 1294.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Religious senses came early: ''patre'' for the first person of the Trinity is recorded in 1233 in Giovanni da Vicenza, and ''padre'' in Dante (1313–1319).^(DELI 1999) The plural ''padri'' “forefathers” is in Bono Giamboni before 1292, the sense “guide and moral protector” in Giordano da Pisa before 1311, and “master, founder of a discipline or art” in Dante before 1321.^(DELI 1999) As a title of priests, and especially of friars, it is recorded before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ Derivatives include ''padreggiare'' “to take after one's father” (1612, Crusca), and ''Padre Eterno'' “God” (1483), which as ''padreterno'' came to mean a very powerful person (1922, Ugo Ojetti).^(DELI 1999) ''Padrino'' “godfather” (''patrino'' before 1396) continues a medieval Latin ''patrinus''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The title of priests passed into English as ''padre'', from Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, in the 1580s; in the 19th century it became the soldiers' word for a military chaplain.^(Etymonline)^(DIFIT) German has ''Padre'' as a title of monks and friars from 1876.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – The form ''patre'' is first recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 12th century – ''Patre'' “father” appears in the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1233 – Giovanni da Vicenza uses ''patre'' for God the Father.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the plural for ancestors.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the form ''padre''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''padre'' as the title of a priest.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1483 – ''Padre Eterno'' “God” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1584 – English ''padre'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1612 – The Crusca dictionary records ''padreggiare''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|father]], the man who has fathered a child, seen in relation to it; also the male parent of an animal, and a man who adopts a child: ''Mio padre lavora in banca.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A man who acts as a [[m|en|guide]] and adviser to someone, like a father.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' [[m|en|forefathers]], the people of earlier generations; also the founder of a family, people or nation.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The founder or leading figure of a school of thought, a science or an art; also the origin or cause of something.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(Christianity, capitalized)'' God the Father, the first person of the [[m|en|Trinity]]; in mythology, a god as creator or ancestor.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' A title of priests and especially of monks and friars, used before the name or in addressing them.^(DIFIT)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[padreggiare]]

+ * [[padreterno]]

+ * [[padrino]]

+ * [[padraccio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[genitore]]

+ * [[madre]]

+ * [[babbo]]

+ * [[papà]]

+ * [[paterno]]

+ * [[la|pater]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Like the other names of relatives, ''padre'' takes no article after a possessive adjective (''mio padre'', ''tuo padre''), except with ''loro'' or when another adjective is added.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In Tuscany everyday speech uses ''babbo'' instead.^(DEI|2718)^(DELI 1999) Set phrases include ''di padre in figlio'' “from generation to generation”, ''padre di famiglia'' “head of a family”, a calque of Latin ''pater familias'', and ''padre putativo'' “supposed father”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}