sparare Italian · revision 37878

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=about 1260–1261, Brunetto Latini|origins=la parō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /spaˈra.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sparare''' (first-person singular present spàro, first-person singular past historic sparài, past participle sparàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[inh|la-vul|*exparō|alt=*exparāre|t=to prepare (an animal) for cooking by gutting it]], from [[la|parō|t=to prepare]] with [[m|la|ex-]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|22, 512)^(GDLI|19, 701) Arrigo Castellani, followed by DELI, saw in it a cooks' word for cleaning a bird, hare or fish of its innards before cooking, with the prefix used as an intensive rather than a privative; the LEI adds that the Latin verb has no descendants outside Italy.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|22, 512) Nocentini instead treats it as an Italian formation from [[parare]] or [[apparare]] (to prepare) with the privative [[s-]], “to prepare by taking out the innards”.^(Nocentini 2010) Sabatini–Coletti mention a derivation from [[la|sparus|t=small hunting spear]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The sense “to fire a gun” is recorded two centuries later and is usually derived from the older verb, although the step is not clear.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|22, 512) Castellani suggested a vivid metaphor, firing a weapon as gutting it of its contents, which the LEI finds too picturesque to be credible; the LEI prefers a link through the wounds that the first firearms, with their large calibres and several balls, opened in the bodies of their victims.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|22, 512) The GDLI and Tommaseo understood it as “emptying, discharging” the weapon, the reverse of making it ready.^(GDLI|19, 701)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 1063) Nocentini sees the prefixed verb here as undoing the preparation of the weapon, probably on the model of [[es|disparar]], which was used of the crossbow early in the 15th century.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record of the older sense, “to cut open the belly”, is Brunetto Latini's ''Rettorica'' of about 1260–1261, which says that Nero killed his brother and “sparando la madre” (cut open his mother).^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|22, 512)^(GDLI|19, 701) The shooting sense first appears in Luca Pulci, who died in 1470.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''sparare'' was used of butchering pigs and of tearing a body open, and, from 1585 the participle ''sparato'' named the opening at the front of a garment; in the 20th century it became the starched front of a man's evening shirt.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|19, 701) The cutting sense survives in central Italy for gutting fish and animals.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The firearms sense spread with the new weapons: transitive in the 15th century, intransitive “to fire” by the end of it, and extended to throwing and hurling in 1562.^(DELI 1999) By 1875 one could ''sparare'' lies and tall stories; football commentators use it for a hard shot, journalists for splashing a story on the front page, and television technicians, from 1959, for a bright surface that dazzles the camera.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Sparare a zero'', to fire with no elevation and so at point-blank range, now means to criticize fiercely.^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020) The derivatives ''sparata'' (1582, a volley; before 1600, a boast), ''sparo'' (1666) and ''sparatoria'' (1927, when Panzini described it as a Neapolitan revolver brawl) followed.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses ''sparare'' for “to cut open”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|22, 512)

+ * Before 1470 – Luca Pulci uses it for firing a gun.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1562 – The verb is used for “to throw, hurl”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1582 – ''Sparata'' (a volley) is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1666 – ''Sparo'' (a shot) appears in Lorenzo Magalotti.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – Rigutini and Fanfani record ''sparare'' for “to tell tall stories”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1927 – ''Sparatoria'' (shoot-out) is recorded by Panzini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – The verb is used of a surface that glares in television filming.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|shoot]], fire a weapon: ''Il cacciatore ha sparato due volte.'', ''sparare a qualcuno'', to shoot at someone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To fire (a shot, a burst): ''sparare tre colpi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To shoot out, project: ''I cannoni sparano neve artificiale.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To throw, land (kicks or punches).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(football)'' To shoot the ball hard: ''sparare la palla fuori''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, colloquial)'' To come out with lies or exaggerations, ''spararle grosse'', to tell tall tales; to ask an outrageous price.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(journalism)'' To give a story great prominence.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(nautical)'' To release a catch or fastening suddenly.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(regional, central Italy)'' To [[m|en|gut]] an animal or fish by cutting it open.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''spararsi'': to shoot oneself.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sparo]]

+ * [[sparatoria]]

+ * [[sparata]]

+ * [[sparatore]]

+ * [[sparato]]

+ * [[sparacchiare]]

+ * [[sparachiodi]]

+ * [[spararazzi]]

+ * [[sparapunti]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parare]]

+ * [[apparare]]

+ * [[es|disparar]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two minor words of the same spelling are no longer in use: ''sparare'' “to strip a room or an altar of its hangings”, from ''parare'' with privative ''s-'' (Aretino, Bartoli), and Tuscan ''sparare'' “to unlearn, forget”, the opposite of ''imparare'' (Franco Sacchetti: “chi ha apparato tosto spara”, whoever has learned soon forgets).^(GDLI|19, 702)^(GRADIT 2003) DEI also records a northern ''sparare'' “to save”, which it takes from German ''sparen''.^(DEI|3577)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}