licenziare Italian · revision 38368

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1292–1293, Dante, Vita nuova|origins=la licet}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /li.t͡ʃenˈt͡sja.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''licenziare''' (first-person singular present licènzio, first-person singular past historic licenziài, past participle licenziàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''lecenziare'', ''licensiare'' and ''licenzare''.^(GDLI)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|licentiō|alt=licentiāre|t=to give leave]], a verb formed from [[la|licentia|t=freedom, permission]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT dates the Medieval Latin verb to 1115.^(GRADIT 2003) The TLIO explains it instead as a derivative of the Italian [[licenza]] ([[roa-oit|licenzia]]).^(TLIO) [[fr|licencier]], recorded from the 14th century, is the parallel French formation.^(DEI|2224)^(GDLI)

+

+ [[m|la|licentia]] comes from [[m|la|licēns|t=free, unrestrained]], the present participle of [[m|la|licet|t=it is allowed]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*lik-ē-|t=to be available, have the value of]] and finds no certain cognates outside Italic.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Dante's ''Vita nuova'' of about 1292–1293, with the sense “to give someone leave to go, to dismiss”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) In Old Italian it also meant “to authorize (someone to do something)”, “to dissolve a meeting” and “to discharge from military service”.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' a speaker asks the others to let her go (''o voi mi licenziate''), and the reflexive ''licenziarsi'' “to take one's leave” is in Cavalca before 1342.^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date a school sense, “to confer a qualification”, to the second half of the 13th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The modern main sense, an employer ending a worker's employment, is recorded in 1615; the reflexive for a worker resigning goes back to Tasso, before 1595.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Tommaseo–Bellini (1869) adds “to give a tenant notice”, and Parini, before 1799, uses it for declaring a student to have finished school, whence ''licenziarsi'' “to finish one's studies” (1891).^(DELI 1999) Publishers still use it for passing a book for printing.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The phrase ''licenziare in tronco'' “to dismiss on the spot” is recorded in 1952.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1115 – Medieval Latin ''licentiare'' is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * c. 1292–1293 – Dante uses ''licenziare'' in the ''Vita nuova''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''licenziarsi'' “to take leave”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1595 – Torquato Tasso uses ''licenziarsi'' for leaving a post.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1615 – Girolamo Leopardi uses it for an employer dismissing a worker.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo–Bellini records “to evict (a tenant)”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1952 – ''Licenziare in tronco'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|dismiss]], to [[m|en|fire]] or lay off (an employee): ''La ditta ha licenziato venti operai.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(transitive, law)'' To give (a tenant) notice to leave, to [[m|en|evict]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To award a school-leaving certificate to (students) at the end of a course.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(transitive, literary)'' To let (someone) go, to send away: ''licenziare gli invitati''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(transitive, publishing)'' To approve (a text) for printing.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' ''licenziarsi'': to [[m|en|resign]] from a job; also to finish a course of studies.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[licenziamento]]

+ * [[licenziato]]

+ * [[licenziando]]

+ * [[licenziatario]]

+ * [[licenziabile]]

+ * [[licenziatore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[licenza]]

+ * [[lecito]]

+ * [[la|licentia]]

+ * [[fr|licencier]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}