perciò Italian · revision 37986

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=late 13th century, Novellino}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /perˈt͡ʃɔ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''perciò''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Pisan had [[m|roa-oit|persò]].^(DEI|2846) The phrase is also written separately as ''per ciò'', now less common.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a univerbation of the phrase ⟨per ciò⟩ “for this”, formed [[af|it|per|ciò]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Grammarians long kept the phrase and the single word apart: Tommaseo advised keeping ⟨per ciò⟩ apart when a following word agrees with the pronoun (⟨per ciò stesso⟩) or when the pronoun is stressed, and joining it otherwise.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Novellino'', the Florentine collection of tales of the end of the 13th century, with the sense “for this reason”.^(DELI 1999) Zingarelli dates the word to 1268, GRADIT to the second half of the 13th century.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Dante opens a reply with it in the ''Inferno'': “Perciò, a figurarlo gli occhi affissi” (therefore I fixed my eyes on him to make him out).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start the word introduced a conclusion drawn from what had been said.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Old Italian also used it after a negative to mean “not for that reason, nevertheless”: Boccaccio wrote that although the pain had ceased, “non per ciò è la memoria fuggita de' benifici” (the memory of the kindness has not for that reason fled).^(Treccani 2011) Zingarelli labels this ''non perciò'' “nonetheless” rare, and the use of ''perciò'' for “but, however” literary.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ Tommaseo, in the 19th century, distinguished it from [[però]]: ''però'' can also mean “nevertheless”, while ''perciò'' always gives a reason, and more emphatically.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The interrogative ''e perciò?'' “so what?” is a colloquial use the modern dictionaries record.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1268 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Perciò'' “for this reason” appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|therefore]], so, for this reason; introduces a [[m|en|consequence]] of what has been said: ''Il negozio era chiuso, perciò sono tornato a casa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Strengthened by ''e'': and so: ''Non hai studiato e perciò non sai rispondere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # In questions, asking what follows from what was said: ''e perciò?'', so what?, and then?^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(literary)'' But, however, ''non perciò'', nevertheless.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imperciò]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[per]]

+ * [[ciò]]

+ * [[però]]

+ * [[pertanto]]

+ * [[quindi]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Sabatini–Coletti notes that ''perciò'' is usually set off by pauses and may stand before, inside or, in speech, after the clause it belongs to.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The form ''epperciò'' is occasionally written for ''e perciò''.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}