decidere Italian · revision 38078

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=second half of the 13th century, Gonella Antelminelli|origins=la caedō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /deˈt͡ʃi.de.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''decidere''' (first-person singular present decìdo, first-person singular past historic decìsi, past participle decìso, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also has ''dicidere'' (Florence, Giovanni Villani).^(TLIO)^(LEI|19, 539)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|dēcīdō|t=to cut off; to settle]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1224)^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|dē-|t=away from]] and [[m|la|caedō|t=to cut]], with the regular change of “-ae-” to “-ī-” in a non-initial syllable.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(GRADIT 2003) “Caedō” was a farming word for felling trees; through legal language, where a dispute was “cut”, the compound came to mean “settle, decide”.^(GDLI|4, 76) DEI compares Italian “tagliar corto” “to cut short”.^(DEI|1224)

+

+ The verb exists in learned form in several Romance languages, in both its senses: “cut off” in Middle French (Rabelais), and “settle” more widely, in [[fur|decidi]], [[fr|décider]] (in Middle French from 1403), Old Gascon “decidir” (1416), [[ca|decidir]] (1585) and [[es|decidir]] (1599).^(LEI|19, 539)^(Nocentini 2010) The derivative [[decisivo]] is a loan from French [[m|fr|décisif]] (Middle French 1413), and [[decisione]] goes back to Latin [[m|la|dēcīsiō]].^(LEI|19, 539)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ In 1905 Panzini noted that purists rejected “deciso” “resolute” and “decidersi” “to make up one's mind” as modelled on French, and because, by etymology, a dispute can be decided but not a person.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record, in the Lucchese poet Gonella Antelminelli (second half of the 13th century), and the early uses in Dante and Boccaccio have the Latin sense “cut off, sever, separate”.^(TLIO)^(LEI|19, 539)^(DELI 1999) Dante writes that from hating oneself “ogni affetto è deciso”, every affection is cut off (Purgatorio 17).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “cut” was used only in the 14th century and by Saviozzo, before 1420.^(DELI 1999) The legal sense “settle a question by a judgment” appears at the end of the 15th century in the Piovano Arlotto, of a question that after centuries of dispute “is still not decided or cleared up”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|4, 76) “Take a resolution” follows before 1566, in Annibal Caro, and “be decisive” before 1604, in Marcello Adriani.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The derivatives are dated early: ''decisore'' in the 14th-century statutes of the silk guild, ''decisione'' before 1375 in Boccaccio, ''decisivo'' in Paolo Sarpi (1608–1619), and ''decisionale'' only in 1963.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The sense “cut off” is now marked obsolete.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 13th century – Gonella Antelminelli of Lucca uses ''decidere''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “cut off”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses ''decisione''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 15th century – “Settle by a judgment”, in the Piovano Arlotto.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for “take a resolution”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1604 – Marcello Adriani uses it for “be decisive”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1905 – Panzini records the purists' objection to ''decidersi'' and ''deciso''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|settle]] or resolve, especially a dispute, ''(law)'' to rule on a case: ''Sarà il tribunale a decidere la causa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|decide]], fix or establish, ''decidere di'' + infinitive, ''decidere che'': ''Abbiamo deciso di partire all'alba.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|choose]]: ''Non ho ancora deciso il regalo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive, uncommon)'' To persuade someone (''a'' + infinitive).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To determine the outcome of something: ''Un solo gol decise il campionato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive, with di)'' To be decisive for: ''Quella scelta decise del suo futuro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To make a decision, to choose between possibilities (''tra'', ''per'', ''su''): ''Lascio decidere a mio fratello.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To cut off, separate.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[decisione]]

+ * [[decisivo]]

+ * [[deciso]]

+ * [[decisore]]

+ * [[decisionale]]

+ * [[decisorio]]

+ * [[decidibile]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|caedō]]

+ * [[fr|décider]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The pronominal ''decidersi'' means “to make up one's mind” (''decidersi a'' + infinitive, ''decidersi per'' something).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}