sperare Italian · revision 37679

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Tommaso di Sasso|origins=ine-pro *speh₁-}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /speˈra.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sperare''' (first-person singular present spèro, first-person singular past historic sperài, past participle speràto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is [[roa-oit|spierare]].^(GDLI|19, 820) The poetic nouns [[speme]] and [[spene]] “hope” continue the Latin accusative ⟨spem⟩.^(Prati 1951|937)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|spērō|t=to hope, look forward to]], a verb formed from the noun [[m|la|spēs|t=hope]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin verb lives on in the western Romance languages: [[fr|espérer]], [[oc|esperar]], [[ca|esperar]], [[es|esperar]] and [[pt|esperar]], and in [[sc|isperare]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|3585) [[ro|spera]] is a later borrowing from Latin.^(Wiktionary)

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+ De Vaan traces the Latin noun to [[ine-pro|*spéh₁-s|t=prosperity]], a noun of the root [[ine-pro|*speh₁-|t=to thrive, succeed]], which also gave [[lt|spėti|t=to be in time, manage]], [[cu|спѣти|tr=spěti|t=to succeed]] and [[ang|spōwan|t=to prosper]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto adds that the noun was once an s-stem and only later passed into the fifth declension.^(Devoto 1968|420)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in the Sicilian poet Tommaso di Sasso, in the 13th century, in the transitive sense “to wait with desire and trust for something good”; the construction ''sperare in'' “to put one's trust in” is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, the date GRADIT gives for the verb.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GDLI quotes Guittone d'Arezzo: “Senza ciò, aver onor no spero” (without that, I do not hope to have honour).^(GDLI|19, 820)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the old language ''sperare'' could also mean simply “to wait for, expect”, as in Petrarch's “di dì in dì spero ormai l'ultima sera” (from day to day I now await the last evening), and “to believe, think”; both senses are now obsolete.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) The noun ''speranza'' is as old as the verb (Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250); DELI takes it from Old Occitan ''esperansa'', Nocentini from a Vulgar Latin ''*sperantia''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) It named the theological virtue in Bono Giamboni before 1292 and, from Carlo Dossi before 1910, a young person who shows promise.^(DELI 1999)

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+ Modern Italian uses the verb above all with ''di'' and an infinitive or ''che'' and a subjunctive, in polite replies such as ''spero di sì'' and ''spero di no'', and in the weather proverb ''rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''Speranzoso'' and ''sperabile'' are recorded in Paolo Segneri in 1686;^(DELI 1999) Panzini still doubted in 1905 that ''speranzoso'' was a word to imitate.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''sperare in'' and the noun ''speranza''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Tommaso di Sasso uses the transitive verb.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''speranza'' for the theological virtue.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1320 – The unrelated ''sperare'' “to hold up to the light” is first recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1686 – Paolo Segneri uses ''sperabile'' and ''speranzoso''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1910 – Carlo Dossi uses ''speranza'' for a promising young talent.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|hope]], to wait with confidence for something good to happen, with ''di'' and an infinitive or ''che'' and a clause: ''Spero di finire la tesi entro marzo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To wish that something will or will not happen; in answers, ''spero di sì'', ''spero di no'', ''lo spero''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To [[m|en|expect]] or look forward to a particular result: ''Sperava un aumento di stipendio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(intransitive, with in)'' To put one's [[m|en|trust]] in someone or something, to count on it: ''Speriamo nel bel tempo per la gita.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive, absolute)'' To keep hoping, to be [[m|en|hopeful]] about the future.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To wait for, await.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[speranza]]

+ * [[speranzoso]]

+ * [[sperabile]]

+ * [[disperare]]

+ * [[disperato]]

+ * [[disperazione]]

+ * [[insperato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speme]]

+ * [[la|spēs]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate, mainly Tuscan verb ''sperare'' means “to look at something against the light”, especially an egg to see whether it is fresh or fertile, or paper to see its watermark; it is formed from ''spera'' “ray of light; sphere”, from Greek ''sphaîra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|19, 821) GRADIT dates it before 1320, and the Italian Crescenzi already advises candling eggs this way.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|19, 821)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}