ammazzare Italian · revision 38476

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la-vul *mattea}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /am.matˈt͡sa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ammazzare''' (first-person singular present ammàzzo, first-person singular past historic ammazzài, past participle ammazzàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old spelling is [[roa-oit|amazzare]], and northern texts have forms such as ''amaçare'' and ''amazar''.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|a-|mazza|-are|t2=club, mace]], a verb formed from a noun with a prefix and a suffix at once.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) It must first have meant to strike or kill with a club, and narrowed to the stronger and more particular sense “to kill”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) The same derivation from the word for “club” is [[es|mazar]] and [[pt|maçar]] “to beat”, and Wiktionary adds [[scn|ammazzari]], [[vec|masar]], [[fur|maçâ]], [[oc|massar]] and [[rm|mazzar]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|166)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The noun [[mazza]] goes back to [[la-vul|*mattea|t=club]], of uncertain origin, which Nocentini infers from the diminutive [[la|mateola]], a farm tool in Cato, compared with Slavic and Sanskrit words for a hoe and a harrow.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Wiktionary mentions a less likely alternative, from [[la|mactō|t=to sacrifice; to slay]] through [[la-vul|*mactiō|alt=*mactiāre]], and compares [[roa-oit|mattare]]; the GDLI quotes Manno, who doubted the club and pointed to that old verb.^(Wiktionary)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Bono Giamboni's translation of Orosius, Florence 1292; the earliest senses are to kill by striking with a club, an axe or the like, to slaughter animals, and to kill with violence.^(TLIO) The ''Novellino'' (late 13th century) tells of a lord who “fecelo ammazzare e, del cuore, fe' fare una torta” (“had him killed, and had a pie made of his heart”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the verb for destroying things and for killing oneself.^(TLIO) The figurative sense “to wear out” is found before 1584 in Grazzini.^(DELI 1999) [[ammazzamento]] (1558, Annibal Caro) later also meant gruelling work (1865), [[ammazzasette]] (before 1665, Lippi) is a braggart who claims to have killed seven men, and [[ammazzatoio]] (1678) was the Florentine word for a slaughterhouse, later replaced by ''mattatoio'', the form of Siena, Ancona and Rome.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Ammazzare il tempo'' is to kill time, and in card games a higher card “kills” a lower one.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In Rome ''ammazzalo!'' (euphemistically ''ammappelo!'') is an exclamation of surprise.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 13th century – First record.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it in his Orosius.^(TLIO)

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

+ * 1558 – ''Ammazzamento'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1584 – The sense “to wear out” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1665 – Lippi uses ''ammazzasette''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1678 – ''Ammazzatoio'' “slaughterhouse” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|kill]], especially with violence: ''Il bandito ammazzò il guardiano e fuggì con l'oro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|slaughter]] livestock: ''Il contadino ammazza un agnello per Pasqua.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To cause death: ''Quell'inverno il freddo ammazzò molti vecchi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To beat badly, as in ''ammazzare di botte''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To [[m|en|exhaust]], wear out: ''Questo trasloco mi sta ammazzando.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To depress; to spoil or destroy something.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(card games)'' To take an opponent's card with a higher one.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(pronominal, ammazzarsi)'' To kill oneself; to be killed in an accident.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ammazzamento]]

+ * [[ammazzasette]]

+ * [[ammazzatoio]]

+ * [[ammazzatore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mazza]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DEI and the GDLI record a separate, obsolete and jocular ''ammazzare'' “to make into bunches”, from [[mazzo]], used by Lippi of garlic and onions, and the TLIO has a Sicilian verb from ''mazzo'' in 1371–1381.^(DEI|166)^(GDLI)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}