completo Italian · revision 38312

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1290–1310, Regimen Sanitatis (Neapolitan)|origins=la compleō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /komˈplɛ.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''completo''' (feminine completa, masculine plural completi, feminine plural complete)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|complētus|t=filled; complete]], the past participle of [[m|la|compleō|t=to fill up; to finish]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012) The inherited participle of the Latin verb is [[compiuto]], beside [[compiere]].^(LEI|16, 520)^(Nocentini 2010) The learned word is also [[fr|complet]], [[ca|complet]], [[es|completo]], [[pt|completo]] and [[fur|complèt]].^(LEI|16, 520)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Some senses were taken from French.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|16, 520) The noun “suit of clothes” is a calque of the French noun, which DELI dates in this sense to the 17th century and the LEI to 1874; the sense “full, with no seats left” follows French too.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|16, 520)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) [[completare]] and [[completamento]] are [[fr|compléter]] (1733) and [[m|fr|complètement]] (1750).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO and the LEI find the word first in the Neapolitan ''Regimen Sanitatis'' (1290–1310), then in Old Bolognese ''conpleda'' (1321), in the sense “whole, lacking nothing”.^(TLIO)^(LEI|16, 520) In Tuscan prose DELI dates it before 1597, in Giovan Vettorio Soderini's work on agriculture, which speaks of a “complete fortification”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|3, 414)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective spread in the 17th and 18th centuries, with Carlo Dati wishing a correspondent “every most complete happiness”.^(GDLI|3, 414) It came to mean “total, absolute”, also in insults such as ''un completo idiota'', and “full” of a theatre or a bus.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) Of a person it means all-round, having every skill a job needs.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The noun for a man's suit of jacket, waistcoat and trousers is recorded in 1918.^(DELI 1999) Writers such as Gadda and Pratolini used it for grey or blue suits, and it now names any set of matching clothes or accessories.^(GDLI|3, 415)^(GRADIT 2003) Technical uses followed: a complete flower in botany, the equestrian ''concorso completo'' (from 1956), and in logic a formal system with the property of completeness (from 2000).^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|16, 520)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1290–1310 – ''Completo'' appears in the Neapolitan ''Regimen Sanitatis''.^(TLIO)^(LEI|16, 520)

+ * 1321 – Old Bolognese ''conpleda'' is recorded.^(LEI|16, 520)

+ * Before 1597 – Giovan Vettorio Soderini uses ''completo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1733 – French ''compléter'', the model of ''completare'', is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1798 – Ugo Foscolo uses ''completare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – Panzini records ''completo'' for a man's suit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1956 – The equestrian ''concorso completo'' is recorded.^(LEI|16, 520)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|complete]], having all the parts it should have: ''Mi serve l'elenco completo degli iscritti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Total, absolute: ''Nella stanza c'era un silenzio completo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of a place or vehicle, [[m|en|full]], with no seats left.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of a person, all-round, having every quality needed for an activity: ''un musicista completo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(botany)'' Of a flower, having perianth, stamens and carpels.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(logic, mathematics)'' Of a formal system, having the property of completeness.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|suit]] or outfit, a set of matching clothes; especially a man's suit of jacket, trousers and sometimes waistcoat.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A set of matching objects or accessories for one use: ''un completo di valigie''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[completare]]

+ * [[completamento]]

+ * [[completezza]]

+ * [[completamente]]

+ * [[incompleto]]

+ * [[completino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[compiere]]

+ * [[complemento]]

+ * [[completivo]]

+ * [[compiuto]]

+ * [[la|completus]]

+ * [[fr|complet]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Al completo'' means “full” of a hotel or a theatre, and “with everyone present” of a group.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}