cioè Italian · revision 37773

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=before 1249, Pier della Vigna}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡ʃoˈɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|ciò|è|t1=this|t2=is]], with the third person singular present of [[essere]], written as one word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) In the old manuscripts the difference between the joined and the separate spelling means little, and until the 16th century the phrase stood beside [[m|roa-oit|ciò sono]], [[m|roa-oit|ciò era]] and [[m|roa-oit|ciò fu]], with the verb still agreeing and changing tense; only later did the joined form become a single fixed word.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DEI|950) Old Italian also had a form [[roa-oit|cioène]].^(DEI|950)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The dictionaries compare it with [[la|id est]].^(DEI|950)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record of ''ciò è'' is in Pier della Vigna, who died in 1249, and of ''cioè'' in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Pier della Vigna writes of the enemy “che m'à tolta madonna … ciò-è la morte fera” (who has taken my lady from me … that is, cruel death), and Giacomo da Lentini sings of the finest lady from Agri to Messina, “cioè la più avenente” (that is, the most charming).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses the word in prose and verse, and in Ugolino's speech in the ''Inferno'': “ciò è come la morte mia fu cruda” (that is, how cruel my death was).^(GDLI) Tommaseo still allowed the separate spelling but preferred the joined one, and quoted old plural uses with ''ciò sono''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Besides explaining, the word came to correct what has just been said (“or rather”), to ask for an explanation when used alone as a question, and in reinforced form ''cioè a dire''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) In colloquial speech it is also a filler with no clear meaning, a use that Wiktionary marks as proscribed.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1249 – Pier della Vigna writes ''ciò è''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini writes ''cioè''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – ''Ciò è'' still alternates with ''ciò sono'' and ''ciò era''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # That is, [[m|en|namely]], in other words: ''Ci vediamo dopodomani, cioè giovedì.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Or rather, correcting what has just been said: ''Te lo porto domani, cioè no, stasera.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # As a question, asking for an explanation: ''E cioè?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A [[m|en|filler]] word without a precise meaning, like English “I mean”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ciò]]

+ * [[essere]]

+ * [[ossia]]

+ * [[la|id est]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ GRADIT classes ''cioè'' as a conjunction, Devoto–Oli and Treccani as an adverb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The spelling ''cioé'' with an acute accent is a variant found in Wiktionary; the standard pronunciation has an open /ɛ/.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}