genitore Italian · revision 37863

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1065, Umbrian confession formula (as ienitore)|origins=ine-pro *ǵénh₁tōr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /d͡ʒe.niˈto.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''genitore''' ''m'' (plural genitori, feminine genitrice)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|genitor|t=begetter, father]], from [[m|la|gignō|t=to beget, produce]] with the agent suffix [[m|la|-tor]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun continues [[ine-pro|*ǵénh₁tōr|t=parent]], and Devoto and DELI note that Greek and Sanskrit have the same agent noun.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968)^(DELI 1999) In Latin it was mostly poetic, and in the plural it could already mean “father and mother”, as in Lucretius and Catullus.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1785) DEI thinks the language of the Church, where ⟨genitor⟩ is God the Father, helped bring the word into Italian and French.^(DEI|1785) [[fr|géniteur]] and [[es|genitor]] are the same borrowing.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the Umbrian confession formula from Norcia, dated 1065 by the TLIO, in the spelling ''ienitore'', meaning “father”.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI dates the text before 1089.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the singular meant “father”, and by extension “founder of a line, forefather” and God the Creator; the plural “father and mother” is recorded from the 14th century, in the Tuscan Livy.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) DEI notes that from then on the plural spread to speakers without learning.^(DEI|1785) Dante writes in the ''Vita nuova'' of Beatrice's father as “genitore di tanta meraviglia” (father of so great a marvel).^(GDLI|6, 669) In the singular, “father” is now literary or jocular, and in bureaucratic use ''genitore'' means either parent.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI) In computing a ''genitore'' is a program that starts a “child” process.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1065 – ''ienitore'' appears in the Umbrian confession formula.^(TLIO)

+ * 14th century – The plural “father and mother” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|parent]], father or mother: ''Serve la firma di un genitore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # (plural) parents, father and mother: ''Vive ancora con i genitori.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' one who begets; father, (capitalised) God the Father.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(computing)'' a parent process.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[genitrice]]

+ * [[genitoriale]]

+ * [[progenitore]]

+ * [[genitura]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[genere]]

+ * [[gente]]

+ * [[la|genitor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The feminine ''genitrice'' is literary.^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010) The adjective ''genitoriale'' means “parental”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}