costruire Italian · revision 38053

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 13th century, Fatti di Cesare|origins=ine-pro *strew-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kos.truˈi.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''costruire''' (first-person singular present costruìsco, first-person singular past historic costruìi, past participle costruìto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older and literary forms are ''construire'' and ''costrurre'', and a literary past participle ''costrutto''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)^(DEI|1136) DEI explains ''costrurre'' by analogy with ''trarre'' and ''condurre'';^(DEI|1136)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Tommaseo thought it barbarous.^(DEI|1136)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|cōnstruō|t=to heap up, arrange, build]], which moved to the verbs in ⟨-ire⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto 1968) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|con-|t=together]] and [[m|la|struō|t=to arrange, build]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) [[fr|construire]] is recorded in 1466, after an earlier [[fro|construer]] of 1290, and [[es|construir]] is its Spanish counterpart.^(DEI|1136)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The simple verb comes from [[itc-pro|*strow-e/o-]], from [[ine-pro|*strew-|t=to strew]], and its cognates include [[got|𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=straujan|t=to strew]].^(de Vaan 2008) The same Latin verb gives [[struttura]], and Devoto compares [[distruggere]], which has a different form.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Sienese ''Fatti di Cesare'' of the late 13th century, in the sense “to put several parts together to make one object, such as a building, walls or a ship”.^(TLIO) DELI and Nocentini date it to Dante, before 1321.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used the verb for bringing into being and for arranging a sentence according to syntax or rhetoric;^(TLIO) DELI's first date for the grammatical sense is Buommattei (1623–1641), but Dante already uses ''costruzione'' for the arrangement of a sentence in 1304–1308.^(DELI 1999) Ariosto writes of a wall “antiquamente … construtto”, built in ancient times, and Tasso and Monti still use the participle ''costrutto''.^(GDLI|3, 908)

+

+ Tommaseo distinguished ''costruire'', putting the parts together in order, from ''edificare'', giving the whole a fine form.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The modern dictionaries add the figurative senses “to create, devise”, the geometrical “to construct a figure” and the football sense “to build up play”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Fatti di Cesare'' use ''costruire''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1290 – French ''construer'' is recorded.^(DEI|1136)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''costruzione'' for the arrangement of a sentence.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''costruire'' “to build”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1466 – French ''construire'' is recorded.^(DEI|1136)

+ * 1623–1641 – Buommattei uses it for arranging words grammatically.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1804 – ''Ricostruire'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|build]], put up (a building, a bridge, a road); also without an object: ''In quella zona non si può più costruire.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To make by putting parts together; to [[m|en|construct]] (a machine, a piece of furniture): ''Mio nonno ha costruito da solo questa barca.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To create, devise, build up: ''costruire una carriera'', ''costruire il proprio futuro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(grammar)'' To arrange the words of a sentence according to the rules of syntax.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(geometry)'' To construct (a figure or a quantity) according to given rules.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(sport)'' To build up (play, an attack) according to a plan.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' ''costruirsi'': to build or create for oneself: ''Si è costruito una casa al mare.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[costruzione]]

+ * [[costruttore]]

+ * [[costruttivo]]

+ * [[costrutto]]

+ * [[costruibile]]

+ * [[costruito]]

+ * [[ricostruire]]

+ * [[ricostruzione]]

+ * [[ricostruttore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[struttura]]

+ * [[distruggere]]

+ * [[istruire]]

+ * [[la|struo|alt=struō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The present is ''costruisco'', ''costruisci''; the past historic is ''costruii'', in literary use also ''costrussi'', and the past participle ''costruito'', literary ''costrutto''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Costruire sulla sabbia'' is to build on sand, to do something that will not last.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}