preoccupare Italian · revision 37933

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, semantic loan|attested=1321–1330, Domenico Cavalca|origins=la occupō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /pre.ok.kuˈpa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''preoccupare''' (first-person singular present preòccupo, first-person singular past historic preoccupài, past participle preoccupàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|praeoccupō|t=to occupy beforehand, seize first]], from [[m|la|occupō|t=to seize]] with [[m|la|prae-|t=before]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Its modern sense “to worry” comes from [[fr|préoccuper]], which developed it through “to fill the mind with a thought”: it is recorded in French for “to worry oneself” in 1559 and “to cause anxiety” in 1642.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) The sense took hold in Italian in the 19th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DEI calls the reflexive use, “to be worried”, a Gallicism.^(DEI|3064)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Domenico Cavalca's lives of the Desert Fathers (1321–1330), with the senses “to occupy a place before someone else”, “to seize unduly”, “to strike suddenly” (of an emotion) and “to anticipate”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) DELI also gives “to speak first” in Cavalca.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The older sense, often military, is still in Machiavelli, who writes of seizing in advance the routes by which a rival climbs to power, and in Foscolo.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|14, 181) The sense “to make anxious” is recorded in 1871, and the reflexive “to worry” in a Milanese paper in 1845.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Purists objected.^(DELI 1999) In 1886 Rigutini called the family “Italian, very Italian”, but in senses quite unlike the ones given to it after French newspapers, and he quoted Littré's complaint about the French use.^(DELI 1999) ''Preoccupazione'' meant “prejudice” in the 14th century and “worry” in Manzoni (1840–1842), and ''preoccupato'' “anxious” first appears in a passage of the ''Promessi sposi'' (1825–1827) that Manzoni later rewrote.^(DELI 1999) ''Preoccupante'' “worrying” is in Panzini (before 1939).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1321–1330 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''preoccupare'' for “to occupy first”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1559 – French ''se préoccuper'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1642 – French ''préoccuper'' is recorded for “to cause worry”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1825–1827 – Manzoni uses ''preoccupato'' for “anxious”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1845 – The reflexive ''preoccuparsi'' “to worry” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1871 – The sense “to make anxious” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1886 – Rigutini condemns the new senses as French.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|worry]], make anxious: ''La febbre del bambino ci preoccupa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To occupy a place or post before someone else.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative, rare)'' To [[m|en|prejudice]] someone's mind.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[preoccupante]]

+ * [[preoccupato]]

+ * [[preoccupazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[occupare]]

+ * [[la|praeoccupo]]

+ * [[fr|préoccuper]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The reflexive ''preoccuparsi'' means “to be worried” (''non preoccuparti''), and also “to take care to do something”: ''Mi preoccupo io di chiamarlo.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The present is stressed on the second syllable: ''preòccupo''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}