sposare Italian · revision 38440

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Cielo d'Alcamo|origins=ine-pro *spond-eie/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /spoˈza.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sposare''' (first-person singular present spòso, first-person singular past historic sposài, past participle sposàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and literary forms are ''sponsare'', ''spoxare'' and ''spozare''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|spōnsō|alt=spōnsāre|t=to betroth, marry]], an intensive of [[m|la|spondeō|t=to pledge, promise]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The GDLI derives it from [[m|la|spōnsus|t=bridegroom]], the noun behind [[sposo]].^(GDLI) DEI holds that the voiced ⟨s⟩ of the Italian word shows it came from the North, and Meyer-Lübke too gives the Italian verb as a northern form.^(DEI|3602)^(REW 1935) The same verb is [[fr|épouser]], [[pro|espozar]], [[ca|esposar]], [[es|esposar]], [[pt|esposar]] and [[sc|ispozare]], and Old Italian also had [[disposare]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ De Vaan derives [[m|la|spondeō]] from [[itc-pro|*spondeje/o-|t=to libate many times]] and [[ine-pro|*spond-eie/o-|t=to libate]], so that the pledge was first a drink-offering; he compares [[grc|σπένδω|tr=spéndō|t=to pour a libation]] and [[hit|išpant-|t=to libate]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Cielo d'Alcamo's ''contrasto'', before 1250, where one speaker asks to be taken to church and married before the people (''sposami davanti da la ienti'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) The sense is “to take as husband or wife”; in older Italian it could also mean to promise solemnly to marry, through the binding ceremony of betrothal.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Cavalca used the verb for giving a daughter or son in marriage, before 1342, and the reflexive ''sposarsi'' “to get married” is in Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' (1348–1353).^(DELI 1999) The sense “to perform the wedding”, of a priest or mayor, is dated by DELI to 1565.^(DELI 1999) Figurative uses followed: “to embrace (an idea, a cause)” in Paolo Sarpi, 1608–1619, and “to combine, join” in Magalotti, before 1712.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The intransitive use, “to get married”, is recorded from 1581;^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Panzini gave it in 1927 as Roman, and Zingarelli marks it Tuscan.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) DEI notes that the word is used in almost every dialect, but Venetian, Trentino and Alpine Lombard prefer ''maritarsi'', southern Tuscany and parts of Abruzzo ''pigliarsi'', and Basilicata, Otranto and Calabria ''affidarsi''.^(DEI|3602) In modern Italian ''si sposa bene'' is said of foods or colours that go well together, and ''sposare Gesù'' means to become a nun.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses ''sposare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for giving in marriage.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''sposarsi''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1565 – A. Contarini uses it for performing a wedding.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1608–1619 – Paolo Sarpi uses it for embracing an idea.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1712 – Magalotti uses it for joining or mixing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1581 – L. Pasqualigo uses it intransitively.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1927 – Panzini records the intransitive use in Rome.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|marry]], to take as husband or wife: ''Ha sposato un compagno di università.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To marry, to perform the wedding of: ''Li ha sposati il sindaco del paese.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To give in marriage: ''Volevano sposare la figlia a un notaio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(transitive, figurative)'' To [[m|en|embrace]], [[m|en|espouse]] (an idea or cause).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(transitive, figurative)'' To join, combine: ''sposare l'utile al dilettevole''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive, Tuscan)'' To get married.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(pronominal)'' ''sposarsi'': to get married; figuratively, of things, to go well together.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sposato]]

+ * [[risposare]]

+ * [[sposabile]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sposalizio]]

+ * [[sposo]]

+ * [[sposa]]

+ * [[disposare]]

+ * [[rispondere]]

+ * [[la|spondeo]]

+ * [[fr|épouser]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sposare l'utile al dilettevole'' is a set phrase, “to combine business with pleasure”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) A different Old Italian ''sposare'', from ''ex-'' and [[posare]], meant “to stop, lodge” and “to put down”: Dante writes ''al fondo che divora / Lucifero con Giuda ci sposò'' (he set us down at the bottom that devours Lucifer and Judas).^(GDLI)^(DEI|3602)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}