cliente Italian · revision 37895

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=first half of the 14th century, Venetian translation of Ovid|origins=la cliēns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kliˈɛn.te/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Regional: /kliˈen.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cliente''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural clienti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned borrowing, [[bor|la|cliēns|t=dependant, client]], the word for a free man under the protection of a patron in ancient Rome.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|15, 41) The same Latin word gave [[fr|client]] (from 1437), [[es|cliente]] (from 1490), [[ca|client]] and [[pt|cliente]], and [[fur|cliènt]] and [[rm|client]].^(LEI|15, 41)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ DELI and GRADIT call the origin of the Latin noun uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini takes it as a present participle meaning “one who bows down”, from the root that gave [[m|la|clīnō|t=to bend]] and Italian [[chinare]].^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan, in the same line, reconstructs [[ine-pro|*ḱli-ent-|t=who leans]], an active participle of [[ine-pro|*ḱley-|t=to lean]].^(de Vaan 2008) Devoto, and Wiktionary as one possibility, derive it instead from the participle of [[m|la|clueō|t=to be called, be esteemed; to obey]], and Plautus has forms with ⟨clu-⟩.^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records are from the first half of the 14th century: a Venetian translation of Ovid's ''Art of Love'' uses ''cliente'' for someone who turns to a lawyer, and Lucan's translation from Prato, before 1333, has the form ''cliento'' in the Roman sense.^(TLIO)^(LEI|15, 41) DELI's first dates are later: Guicciardini, before 1540, for the Roman client, and Alessandro Citolini, 1561, for a regular customer of a professional or a shop.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From Roman history the word passed to anyone who seeks the favour of a powerful man and, pejoratively, to the supporter of a politician who backs him for advantage rather than conviction.^(GDLI|3, 227)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Clientela'' had the same course: Guicciardini (before 1540) used it for a great man's followers, and a professional's or shop's customers are recorded in 1857.^(DELI 1999) ''Clientelismo'', patronage politics, appeared in 1963.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ The commercial sense spread through most of the dialects, from Piedmontese and Lombard to Corsican and Roman ''criente''.^(LEI|15, 41) In computing ''client'' is a borrowing from English.^(LEI|15, 41)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1333 – ''Cliento'' appears in a translation of Lucan from Prato.^(LEI|15, 41)

+ * First half of the 14th century – A Venetian translation of Ovid uses ''cliente'' for a lawyer's client.^(TLIO)

+ * 1479 – Poliziano uses ''cliente''.^(LEI|15, 41)

+ * Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses it for the Roman client, and ''clientela''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – Alessandro Citolini uses it for a regular customer.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1963 – ''Clientelismo'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|customer]], someone who buys goods or services from a shop or business, especially regularly: ''Il barista conosce tutti i suoi clienti per nome.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|client]] of a professional, such as a lawyer: ''L’avvocato riceve i clienti il martedì.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A guest of a hotel or a regular of a bar or restaurant.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(history)'' In ancient Rome, a free man under the protection of a [[m|en|patron]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(derogatory)'' A hanger-on who serves a powerful person, especially a politician, in return for favours.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[clientela]]

+ * [[clientelare]]

+ * [[clientelismo]]

+ * [[clientolo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[patrono]]

+ * [[la|cliens]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cliente'' is masculine or feminine according to the person: ''un cliente'', ''una cliente''.^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011) The pejorative diminutives are ''clientuccio'' and ''clientucolo''.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}