spiegare Italian · revision 37876

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Monte Andrea|origins=la plicō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /spjeˈɡa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spiegare''' (first-person singular present spiègo or spiégo, first-person singular past historic spiegài, past participle spiegàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|explicō|t=to unfold, unroll; to set out, explain]], from [[m|la|ex-|t=out]] and [[m|la|plicō|t=to fold]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini calls it the popular outcome of the Latin verb, beside the learned doublet [[esplicare]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) Devoto points to the northern voicing of /k/ to /ɡ/ between vowels, the same as in [[piegare]] from [[m|la|plicō]].^(Devoto 1968) The DEI wonders whether it came straight from Latin or through [[pro|esplegar]].^(DEI|3590)

+

+ Meyer-Lübke lists the Engadine form [[m|rm|splajer|t=to unwind]] as a further outcome of the Latin verb, and notes that the Old Occitan verb meant “to use, reach” and the Old Catalan one “to finish”.^(REW 1935) The learned [[fr|expliquer]] is the French counterpart.^(Körting 1907) DELI and the GDLI note that the sense “to display, show” is modelled on [[fr|déployer]], used in that sense from 1552.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|19, 897)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the sense “to make clear what is hard to understand”, in the 13th-century poet Monte Andrea.^(DELI 1999) The concrete sense, “to unfold, spread out”, appears in Dino Compagni's chronicle of 1310–1312, where the soldiers “spiegarono le bandiere” (unfurled the banners); GRADIT dates the word to 1312.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 1106)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante has a net that ''si spiega'', is spread out, in vain before the eyes of grown birds.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|19, 897) Francesco Guicciardini, before 1540, used the verb for deploying troops in battle order, and ''spiegamento'' took that military sense in 1824.^(DELI 1999) The use for showing a quality, ''spiegare zelo'', is found before 1424 in Giovanni Sercambi, but Tommaseo condemned it as a Gallicism.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The reflexive ''spiegarsi'' meant “to make one's thoughts clear” from 1673, and in Manzoni's ''Promessi sposi'' Renzo hopes “to have it out” with Lucia.^(DELI 1999) ''Spiegazione'', explanation, is recorded before 1653 and ''spiegabile'' before 1704.^(DELI 1999) ''Spiegare le vele'' and ''spiegare le ali'', to spread the sails or the wings, keep the old concrete sense.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Monte Andrea uses ''spiegare'' for “to explain”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for unfurling banners.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''spiegarsi'' for a net spreading out.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini uses it for deploying troops.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1653 – ''Spiegazione'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1673 – Paolo Segneri uses ''spiegarsi'' for “to make oneself clear”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1824 – ''Spiegamento'' is used of deploying troops.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|unfold]], spread out: ''spiegare un lenzuolo'', ''spiegare le vele'', to set sail.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To [[m|en|deploy]] troops or police: ''Hanno spiegato centinaia di agenti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|explain]], make clear: ''Mi spieghi questa frase?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To teach, go over (a lesson, a text): ''Oggi la maestra ha spiegato le frazioni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To tell, set out: ''Spiegami perché sei arrabbiato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''spiegarsi'': to make oneself understood; to understand, account for: ''Non mi spiego il suo silenzio.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spiegazione]]

+ * [[spiegabile]]

+ * [[spiegamento]]

+ * [[spiegato]]

+ * [[dispiegare]]

+ * [[spiegazzare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piegare]]

+ * [[spiegatura]]

+ * [[esplicare]]

+ * [[la|explicō]]

+ * [[fr|expliquer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Spiegare la voce'' or ''il canto'' is to sing at full voice.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Spiegare'' is the everyday word, while ''esplicare'' belongs to formal language.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}