mancare Italian · revision 38121

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=la mancus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /manˈka.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mancare''' (first-person singular present mànco, first-person singular past historic mancài, past participle mancàto, auxiliary (transitive and in some intransitive meanings) avére or (in other intransitive meanings) èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|manco|-are|t1=defective, lacking]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also allows that it may continue [[la-vul|*mancō|alt=*mancāre]], and Latin did have a rare verb [[m|la|mancō]] formed from the adjective.^(Wiktionary) The adjective [[manco]] is [[m|la|mancus|t=maimed, crippled in the hand; defective]], formed from [[m|la|manus|t=hand]] with the suffix of bodily defects seen in [[m|la|caecus|t=blind]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan accepts the link with “hand” only with a shift from “handy” to “handicapped”, and Wiktionary mentions a rival derivation from [[ine-pro|*menk-|t=to lack]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) From the same adjective, influenced by [[m|la|truncus|t=maimed]], comes [[monco]], and its feminine gave [[manca]] “left hand” and [[mancino]] “left-handed”.^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ [[fr|manquer]] was borrowed from Italian;^(DEI|2340)^(DIFIT)^(REW 1935) DEI dates it 1564, while the DIFIT finds it in 1398.^(DEI|2340)^(DIFIT)^(REW 1935) DEI thinks [[es|mancar]] probably came from Italian too, but Nocentini regards the Spanish verb, which means “to maim”, as a parallel formation.^(DEI|2340)^(Nocentini 2010) It also passed into [[de|mankieren]], through French.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records are in Dante, between 1300 and 1313, in the sense “to be lacking, not to be enough”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In ''Inferno'' 24 the peasant “whose provisions run short” (''a cui la roba manca'') looks out and sees the fields white with frost.^(GDLI|9, 602)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308) the verb means “to be without something”, and in the ''Commedia'' “to fail, give out”.^(DELI 1999) The chronicle of the Malispini uses it for wasting away, a 14th-century Bible translation for dying, and Petrarch for being absent and, in 1374, for fainting.^(DELI 1999) Castiglione used it before 1529 for omitting something.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The transitive use “to miss (a target)” appears in a 14th-century translation of Livy, but purists of the 19th century condemned it as a Gallicism: D'Ayala in 1853 called ''mancò il colpo'' “a very bad phrase”.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo's dictionary records “to be at fault” in 1869.^(DELI 1999) Today the verb also expresses missing a person, as in ''mi manchi'', and the phrase ''venire a mancare'' is a gentle way of saying “to die”.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''mancare'' for “to be lacking”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1304–1308 – In the ''Convivio'' it means “to be without something”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1374 – Petrarch uses it for fainting.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – A translation of Livy has the transitive “to miss”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1398 – French ''manquer'' is first recorded, according to the DIFIT.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1853 – D'Ayala condemns ''mancare il colpo'' as a bad phrase.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive, with essere)'' To be [[m|en|lacking]] or missing; not to be enough: ''In casa manca il latte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive, with avere)'' To be without, to lack: ''Il ragazzo non manca di talento.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of time or distance, to remain before a point: ''Mancano tre giorni a Natale.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To be absent or away: ''Lucia manca dall'ufficio da lunedì.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a person or thing, to be [[m|en|miss|alt=missed]]: ''Mi mancano i miei amici.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of strength or a supply, to fail, give out: ''A metà salita gli mancò il fiato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To [[m|en|faint]]: ''sentirsi mancare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(euphemistic)'' To die: ''venire a mancare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wikizionario)

+ # To fail to keep a promise or duty: ''mancare di parola''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To miss a target or chance: ''Il centravanti ha mancato il rigore.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mancanza]]

+ * [[immancabile]]

+ * [[mancamento]]

+ * [[mancante]]

+ * [[mancato]]

+ * [[manchevole]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[monco]]

+ * [[mancino]]

+ * [[fr|manquer]]

+ * [[la|mancus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ci mancherebbe altro!'' can reject an unwelcome possibility (“heaven forbid!”) or, as a polite reply, mean “of course, don't mention it”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In the sense “to be lacking” the verb takes ''essere'', in the sense “to lack something” ''avere''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}