colpevole Italian · revision 38276

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1250, Venetian Pamphilus|origins=la culpa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kolˈpe.vo.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''colpevole''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural colpevoli, superlative colpevolissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''colpevile'', ''colpevele'', ''colpevre'' and southern ''culpivuli''.^(TLIO)^(DEI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|it|colpa|-evole]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) DEI and Wiktionary explain it instead as [[la-lat|culpābilis|t=blameworthy]] with its suffix replaced by Italian ⟨-evole⟩, and Devoto–Oli, Zingarelli, Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli give the Late Latin word as the source.^(DEI)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) The learned doublet is [[colpabile]].^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin adjective is formed from [[m|la|culpō|t=to blame]] with [[m|la|-bilis]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ [[colpa|alt=Colpa]] continues [[la|culpa|t=fault, blame]], a word without certain cognates.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan connects it with [[ine-pro|*ku̯olp-h₂-|t=bend, turn]] and with Germanic words for a vault, so that a “wrong” would first have been a turning aside.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian translation of the ''Pamphilus'', about 1250, for someone responsible for a fault that deserves punishment or blame.^(TLIO) DELI dates the adjective and noun to the late 13th century, in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the word in law, for someone found responsible in court for breaking the law, in ''trovare colpevole'' (to find guilty), and in religion, for a sinner.^(TLIO) Dino Compagni writes of himself ''fui colpevole'' (“I was to blame”) for delaying an embassy, and Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' has ''te credendo nella morte del lor fratello esser colpevole'' (“believing you guilty of their brother's death”).^(GDLI|3, 322)

+

+ ''Colpevolezza'' is a 19th-century word.^(DEI) ''Colpevolista'', someone who believes a defendant guilty, was coined with its opposite ''innocentista'' in November 1947, during the Graziosi trial.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – The Venetian ''Pamphilus'' gives the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * 1288 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses ''colpevole''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * November 1947 – ''Colpevolista'' and ''innocentista'' are coined during the Graziosi trial.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|guilty]], responsible for a crime or a fault: ''La giuria lo ha dichiarato colpevole di frode.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Showing guilt: ''Mi lanciò un'occhiata colpevole.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # That is itself a fault, [[m|en|culpable]]: ''un ritardo colpevole''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|culprit]], the person who committed a crime or fault: ''Il colpevole è stato arrestato ieri.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[colpevolezza]]

+ * [[colpevolismo]]

+ * [[colpevolista]]

+ * [[incolpevole]]

+ * [[colpevolizzare]]

+ * [[colpevolmente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[colpa]]

+ * [[colpabile]]

+ * [[incolpare]]

+ * [[la|culpābilis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Tommaseo notes that ''reo'' is usually a stronger word than ''colpevole''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}