scommettere Italian · revision 38027

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=1521|origins=la committō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /skomˈmet.te.re/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''scommettere''' (first-person singular present scommétto, first-person singular past historic scommìsi, past participle scommésso, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ DELI, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti derive the betting verb, though DELI calls the change of meaning unclear, from an older verb of the same form meaning “to take apart, disjoin”, formed [[af|it|s-|commettere|t2=to join together]] with the privative prefix.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) Devoto–Oli, Treccani and the Battaglia dictionary explain the shift as “to set apart the two opposing opinions” or “to make two parts”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|18, 135)

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+ Nocentini, following Silvia Pieroni, finds that explanation forced and unsupported by the documents.^(Nocentini 2010) He starts from [[la|committō|alt=committere|t=to put together; to set against each other]], strengthened in Proto-Romance with [[m|la|ex-]] into a [[la-vul|*excommittō|alt=*excommittere|t=to challenge, provoke]], a sense attested in [[fro|escommetre]] and [[pro|escometre]].^(Nocentini 2010) From it came the noun [[scommessa]] “a challenge with a stake; the stake”, recorded from 1485, and, from that noun the verb “to stake something on one's claim or forecast”.^(Nocentini 2010) The LEI classes the betting verb under [[m|la|committō]] in the sense “to stake on something, to entrust oneself to an outcome”, and notes that its link with the other senses is not yet clear.^(LEI|15, 1534)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the verb to 1521 and the noun ''scommessa'' to 1485;^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 135) DELI's first record of the noun is in Marino Sanudo before 1536, and Sanudo also has the Venetian ''scometiere'' “habitual better”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 135) DELI and GRADIT date the verb from Oudin's dictionary of 1640, in the sense of a forecast on which two or more people commit themselves to pay a sum according to who turns out to be right, and the LEI has Galileo, about 1642.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|15, 1534)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1712 Lorenzo Magalotti uses the verb for affirming something with certainty, and in 1814 a Milanese paper uses it for staking money at gambling.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo quotes Francesco Redi on a learned man who would have bet everything he owned that a single drop of viper's bile could kill the strongest man.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The verb is found in dialects across the north, such as Genoese ''scommette'', Piedmontese ''scoumëtte'' and Venetian ''scomèter''.^(LEI|15, 1534)

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+ Modern usage has hyperbolic phrases such as ''scommettere la testa'' “to bet one's head” and ''ci puoi scommettere'' “you can bet on it”, and the figurative sense “to put one's trust in someone or something”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1485 – The noun ''scommessa'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1521 – First record of the verb according to Nocentini.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1536 – Marino Sanudo uses ''scommessa'' and ''scometiere''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 135)

+ * 1640 – Oudin's dictionary has ''scommettere'' and ''scommettitore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1642 – Galileo uses the verb.^(LEI|15, 1534)

+ * Before 1712 – Magalotti uses it for affirming something with certainty.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1814 – The sense “to stake money at gambling”, in a Milanese paper.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|bet]], wager: to agree a stake with someone on who is right about a claim or forecast: ''Scommettiamo una birra che domani piove?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To stake money on the result of a game, race or match: ''Ha scommesso metà dello stipendio sulle corse dei cavalli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To be sure of something, to say it with certainty: ''Scommetto che arriverà in ritardo anche oggi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To put one's [[m|en|trust]] in someone or something: ''L'azienda ha deciso di scommettere sui giovani.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scommessa]]

+ * [[scommettitore]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[commettere]]

+ * [[mettere]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ An older, separate ''scommettere'', formed from ''commettere'' with the privative ''s-'', means “to take apart, disjoin” and, figuratively and in old use, “to sow discord”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) It is recorded from Dante (1310–1313), who places in Hell ''quei che scommettendo acquistan carco'' (“those who, by sowing division, take on guilt”), and is still used of boards or joints coming apart.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}