rubare Italian · revision 38177

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1294, Guittone d'Arezzo (as robare)|origins=gmw-pro *raubōn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ruˈba.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rubare''' (first-person singular present rùbo, first-person singular past historic rubài, past participle rubàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and variant forms are [[roa-oit|robare]], [[roa-oit|robbare]] and [[rubbare]].^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary) Northern texts also have [[roa-oit|raubare]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|gmw-pro|*raubōn|t=to plunder, rob]], a verb formed from [[m|gmw-pro|*rauba|t=booty; clothes taken as booty]], the source of [[roba]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Wiktionary gives [[la-lat|raubō|alt=raubāre]] as the intermediate stage.^(Wiktionary) Devoto took it from a Gothic verb and argued that it came into Italian late, since an earlier loan would have softened /b/ to /v/, but before the Carolingian period, because it kept the sense “plunder” and not the Frankish sense “goods, stuff”.^(Devoto 1968)^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DELI adds that the /b/ is the main difficulty of the etymology, and Meyer-Lübke found Braune's derivation from [[lng|*rūbōn]] doubtful in sound and unnecessary.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The same Germanic verb gave [[fro|rober]], [[pro|raubar]], [[ca|robar]], [[es|robar]] and [[pt|roubar]], and [[goh|roubōn]], the ancestor of [[de|rauben]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) [[derubare]] comes instead from [[fr|dérober]], the French verb with the prefix [[m|fr|dé-]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records have the old form ''robare'': Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses it absolutely for committing a theft, and Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, for taking by force or by stealth what belongs to others.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The form ''rubare'' appears in Giordano da Pisa's sermons of 1305–1306.^(DELI 1999) The TLIO's first example is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian distinguished ''involare'', to take away by cunning, from ''rubare'', to take away by force, as Mengaldo showed in 1961.^(DELI 1999) Old texts also use the verb for plundering a place, for robbing travellers on the roads (''rubare le strade'') and ships at sea (''rubare il mare''), and for carrying off a woman.^(TLIO) Figurative senses followed: ''rubare il cuore'' “to make someone fall in love” is already Old Italian, and in modern Italian one can steal someone's time, an idea or a job.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ In music ''tempo rubato'' (from 1804) is time played with some freedom for expressive effect.^(DELI 1999) Derivatives include ''ruba'' “plunder” (late 13th century), which now survives only in ''andare a ruba'' “to sell like hot cakes”, ''rubacchiare'' (1518–1525, Firenzuola), ''rubacuori'' (before 1527, Machiavelli) and ''rubamazzo'', a card game (1959).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''robare'' for committing a theft.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ''robare'' for taking what belongs to others.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses the form ''rubare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1527 – ''Rubacuori'' “heartbreaker” in Machiavelli.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1804 – ''Rubato'' is recorded as a musical term.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Rubamazzo'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|steal]]: to take by stealth or by force what belongs to someone else: ''Gli hanno rubato la bicicletta davanti alla scuola.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To commit a theft: ''Lo hanno arrestato mentre rubava in un negozio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|cheat]] on price, weight or measure: ''rubare sul peso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To take a person away from someone, winning their love: ''Ha rubato la ragazza al fratello.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To take up someone's time: ''Non voglio rubarti troppo tempo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To pass off as one's own: ''Gli ha rubato l'idea per il romanzo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To obtain by cunning: ''È riuscito a rubarle il segreto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(sports)'' To win undeservedly, or to take the ball from an opponent.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ruba]]

+ * [[rubacchiare]]

+ * [[rubacuori]]

+ * [[rubamazzo]]

+ * [[rubato]]

+ * [[ruberia]]

+ * [[rubagalline]]

+ * [[rubabandiera]]

+ * [[rubatore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[derubare]]

+ * [[rubamento]]

+ * [[roba]]

+ * [[fr|dérober]]

+ * [[de|rauben]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The person robbed is introduced with ''a'' (''rubare qualcosa a qualcuno''), and robbing a person of something is [[derubare]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) A proverb says ''a rubar poco si va in galera, a rubar tanto si fa carriera'' “steal a little and you go to jail, steal a lot and you make a career”.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}