continuare Italian · revision 37805

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1268, Andrea da Grosseto|origins=la continuus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kon.ti.nuˈa.re/, /kon.tiˈnwa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''continuare''' (first-person singular present contìnuo, first-person singular past historic continuài, past participle continuàto, auxiliary (transitive or intransitive) avére or (alternatively when intransitive with a thing as subject) èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old texts also have [[roa-oit|continovare]], a form the modern dictionaries still list as archaic.^(TLIO)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|continuō|t=to join together; to carry on without a break]], a verb formed from the adjective [[m|la|continuus|t=uninterrupted, continuous]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|1077) Devoto calls the Latin verb a denominative of the adjective, and the Italian Wiktionary notes that its first sense was “to join”, from which “to prolong, go on” developed.^(Devoto 1968)^(Wikizionario) [[fr|continuer]] (12th century) and [[m|fr|continuation]] (1283) were borrowed from the same Latin family, and DEI thinks the Old Italian noun [[continuanza]] may be a Gallicism.^(DEI|1077)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Andrea da Grosseto's Tuscan translation of 1268, where the verb means to carry on an action without interruption.^(TLIO) DELI dates the transitive use, “to go on with something, with or without a break”, to Bono Giamboni before 1292, and the intransitive “not to stop, to last” to Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the verb also meant “to join”, “to visit a place often” and “to use something continually”; these senses are now archaic.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) Boccaccio has it for frequenting the street in front of a woman's house.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) The form ''continovare'' was common in Florentine texts of the 14th century, in Matteo Villani and Tasso among others.^(GDLI)^(TLIO)

+

+ The modern verb is transitive (with ''avere'') and intransitive, with ''essere'' or ''avere'' when a thing is the subject.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010) Followed by ''a'' and an infinitive it means “to keep doing”, and used impersonally it describes weather that does not stop (''continua a piovere'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In newspapers and magazines ''continua'' marks a text carried on to a later page or issue.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) In anatomy the pronominal ''continuarsi'' says that one vessel or organ runs on into another.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses the verb in his translation.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it transitively.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses it intransitively in the ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''continuamento'', ''continuanza'' and ''continuato'' are recorded.^(DEI|1077)

+ * 16th century – ''continuabile'' appears.^(DEI|1077)

+ * 19th century – ''continuatore'' and ''continuabilità'' appear.^(DEI|1077)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|continue]] or carry on an activity, or to [[m|en|resume]] it after a break: ''Dopo la pausa continuiamo la riunione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(transitive, with'' a ''and an infinitive)'' To keep doing something: ''Il bambino continuava a ridere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To carry on work begun by someone else.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To [[m|en|last]], not to stop: ''Lo sciopero continuerà fino a lunedì.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To [[m|en|persevere]] or insist in something: ''Continua con le sue lamentele.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To go on, proceed; to extend in space: ''Oltre il bosco il sentiero continua verso il lago.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(impersonal)'' To go on happening: ''continua a nevicare''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To join; to frequent a place or person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[continuazione]]

+ * [[continuatore]]

+ * [[continuativo]]

+ * [[continuabile]]

+ * [[continuato]]

+ * [[continuanza]]

+ * [[discontinuare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[continuo]]

+ * [[continuità]]

+ * [[la|continuus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}