scendere Italian · revision 38006

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=first half of the 13th century|origins=la scandō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʃen.de.re/, /ˈʃɛn.de.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scendere''' or scèndere (first-person singular present scéndo or scèndo, first-person singular past historic scési, past participle scéso, auxiliary (intransitive) èssere or (transitive) avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortened form, [[der|it|discendere]] with the loss of its first syllable.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The longer verb comes from [[la|dēscendō|t=to go down]], a compound of [[m|la|dē-]] and [[m|la|scandō|t=to climb]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini treats the longer verb as a learned word, while the LEI places both Italian forms among the inherited outcomes of the Latin verb, which lives on everywhere in Romance except Sardinian: [[fr|descendre]], [[pro|deissendre]], [[ca|descendir]], [[es|descender]] and [[pt|descender]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|19, 1363)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin verb [[m|la|scandō]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*skand-|t=to ascend]], related to [[sa|स्कन्दति|tr=skándati|t=to leap, spring]].^(de Vaan 2008) The derivative [[scendiletto]] “bedside rug” is probably modelled on [[fr|descente de lit]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the verb to the first half of the 13th century, and DELI's first quotation is in the ''Novellino'' (late 13th century), for moving from a higher place to a lower one.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999) Dante uses it for a slope, and in the ''Inferno'' writes “omai si scende per siffatte scale” (now we go down by stairs like these).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|17, 932)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian forms include ''scendare'', ''scendre'' and ''sciendere'', and the past participle had besides ''sceso'' the forms ''scento'' and ''scenduto''.^(GDLI|17, 932)^(LEI|19, 1363) The figurative sense “to decrease in intensity or value” is recorded in Franco Sacchetti (before 1400), and “to give way, to stoop to” in Ariosto's ''Orlando furioso'' (1516).^(DELI 1999) The sense “to put up at an inn” comes from getting down from a horse or carriage and is in Leopardi (before 1837); “to come down from the north”, of armies and invaders, is recorded in 1827.^(DELI 1999) The transitive use, ''scendere le scale'', is recorded from Fagiuoli (before 1742).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The noun ''scesa'' “slope” is in Dante, and ''scendiletto'' entered the dictionaries in the 20th century (1922, Pirandello).^(DELI 1999) Many phrases are figurative: ''scendere in campo'' “to enter the contest; to stand for election”, ''scendere in piazza'' “to take to the streets in protest” and ''scendere a patti'' “to come to terms”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 13th century – ''Scendere'' is first recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses the verb.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for a slope.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for “to decrease”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1516 – Ariosto uses it for “to give way”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1827 – The sense “to come down from the north” is recorded in the Milanese press.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1922 – Pirandello uses ''scendiletto''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To go or come [[m|en|down]], to [[m|en|descend]]: ''Scendi in cantina a prendere il vino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To get off a vehicle or an animal, to [[m|en|alight]]: ''Scendiamo a piazza Garibaldi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To move southwards: ''Ogni estate scendono in Puglia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To put up, to stay, at a hotel or in a town: ''Siamo scesi in un albergo vicino al porto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of rain, snow or a river, to fall or flow down.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a road or land, to slope down: ''Il sentiero scende verso il lago.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To hang down: ''La barba gli scendeva fino al petto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of levels, prices or temperature, to drop: ''La febbre è scesa nella notte.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To stoop, to give way: ''scendere a compromessi''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To go down a slope or stairs: ''scendere le scale''.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scesa]]

+ * [[sceso]]

+ * [[scendiletto]]

+ * [[riscendere]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scendibagno]]

+ * [[scendibile]]

+ * [[discendere]]

+ * [[ascendere]]

+ * [[salire]]

+ * [[la|dēscendō]]

+ * [[fr|descendre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The intransitive verb takes ''essere'' and the transitive ''avere''; the past historic is ''scesi'' and the past participle ''sceso''.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010) The ⟨e⟩ of the stem may be pronounced closed or open.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}