agire Italian · revision 38503

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1327, Cecco d'Ascoli|origins=ine-pro *h₂eǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aˈd͡ʒi.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''agire''' (first-person singular present agìsco, first-person singular past historic agìi, past participle agìto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Dialect forms include [[pms|agì]], [[lij|agî]], [[nap|agì]] and [[scn|aggiri]];^(LEI|1, 1286) Old Italian also used the Latin infinitive ''agere''.^(LEI|1, 1286)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|agir]] (1450), from [[la|agō|t=to drive; to do]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Devoto–Oli names Middle French as the route and Devoto the French of the 16th century, the date DEI gives for the French verb.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Devoto 1968)^(DEI|89) The LEI, which DELI cites, treats it instead as a learned continuation of the Latin verb with a change of conjugation: Latin “agere”, at first “to drive (cattle)”, then “to perform an action”, was replaced by [[la|faciō|t=to do, make]] in all the Romance languages and survives only as a learned word, in Italian “agere” and “agire” and in [[fr|agir]], [[oc|agir]], [[pt|agir]] and [[es|agir|t=to sue]].^(LEI|1, 1286)^(DELI 1999) The TLIO, which has the word in Cecco d'Ascoli's “Acerba” (before 1327), also takes it from Latin.^(TLIO)

+

+ Latin “agō” continues Proto-Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*h₂eǵ-|t=to drive, lead]], the root also of [[grc|ἄγω|tr=ágō|t=I lead]] and [[sa|अजति|tr=ájati|t=drives]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Cecco d'Ascoli's ''Acerba'' (before 1327), with the sense “to do, to act”, and Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli also date the word before 1327.^(TLIO)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) Other dictionaries date it much later: Nocentini to 1527, GRADIT to before 1639 (Campanella), and DELI to Vittorio Siri in 1647, for “to do, proceed”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century the verb spread through scientific prose: Redi has ''modo d'agire'' “way of acting” (from 1670), Galileo writes that nature often acts in ways we cannot imagine, and Lorenzo Magalotti (before 1712) uses it for muscles, machines and medicines that work.^(LEI|1, 1286)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999) The legal sense “to take legal action” is recorded in 1790, and in 1858 Viani noted that ''agire in giudizio'' was common among lawyers.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo complained that the moderns used ''agire'' too much where ''operare'' or ''fare'' would do.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The impersonal ''si agisce di'' “it is a matter of” is a Gallicism, and ''abreagire'' adapts German ''abreagieren'', coined by Freud; in psychoanalysis ''agire'' also translates “acting out”.^(LEI|1, 1286)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1327 – Cecco d'Ascoli uses ''agire'' in the ''Acerba''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1450 – French ''agir'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1647 – Vittorio Siri uses it for “to do, proceed”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1670 – Francesco Redi uses ''modo d'agire''.^(LEI|1, 1286)

+ * Before 1712 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses it for organs and medicines that work.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|1, 1286)

+ * 1790 – The legal sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|act]], to do something, to take action: ''Basta parlare, adesso bisogna agire.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|behave]]: ''In quella occasione ha agito da vero amico.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of a substance, organ or device, to take effect, to work (often with ''su''): ''Questo antidolorifico agisce in pochi minuti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(psychoanalysis)'' To [[m|en|act out]] repressed thoughts or fantasies.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(law)'' To take legal action, to sue (with ''contro''): ''agire in giudizio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(theatre, uncommon)'' Of a company of actors, to perform, to be active.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''l'agire'', a way of behaving, conduct.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[agibile]]

+ * [[agibilità]]

+ * [[interagire]]

+ * [[retroagire]]

+ * [[abreagire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[agitare]]

+ * [[atto]]

+ * [[azione]]

+ * [[agente]]

+ * [[agenda]]

+ * [[la|ago]]

+ * [[fr|agir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}