trattare Italian · revision 38533

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1292, Brunetto Latini|origins=la trahō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tratˈta.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''trattare''' (first-person singular present tràtto, first-person singular past historic trattài, past participle trattàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''tractare'' and ''tratare''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|tractō|alt=tractāre|t=to drag; to handle; to manage; to discuss]], the frequentative or intensive of [[m|la|trahō|t=to drag, pull]], formed on its past participle [[m|la|tractus]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Many Italian senses were already Latin: handling and touching, managing, negotiating, behaving towards someone and discussing a subject.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The same verb is [[fr|traiter]], [[oc|traitar]], [[pt|tratar]] and [[ro|trata]], and Spanish has the inherited [[m|es|trechar|t=to prepare (fish)]] beside learned [[m|es|tratar]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3872)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The origin of [[m|la|trahō]] is unclear: de Vaan finds its closest relatives in Celtic words for ebbing and pulling away, and thinks it may be a loanword shared by Italic and Celtic; a link with [[gem-pro|*draganą|t=to drag]] is formally difficult.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Brunetto Latini (before 1292), in the sense of discussing or setting out a subject in speech or writing.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The physical sense “to handle, touch” appears in Pier della Vigna and Dante: Matelda ''ridea… trattando più color con le sue mani'' (laughed, handling many colours with her hands).^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Villani (before 1348) uses it for conducting and concluding business, and Dante for discoursing on a topic.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951) The sense of treating a person in a certain way is dated by DELI to Guicciardini (before 1540), and Boccaccio already wrote of treating someone well or badly.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3872) The technical sense of processing a substance or material, and the medical sense of treating a disease, are modern.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Its derivatives divided the senses: ''trattato'' (1293–94, Dante) a treatise and a treaty, ''trattamento'' (1348–53) the way one is treated and later a wage or medical treatment, and ''trattativa'' (1799) negotiation, a 19th-century word that purists disliked.^(DELI 1999) German borrowed the Latin verb as [[de|traktieren]] in the 15th century.^(DEI|3872)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Brunetto Latini uses ''trattare'' “to discuss”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante's ''Vita nova'' has ''trattato'' “treatise”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “to discourse”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Villani uses it for “to conclude (an affair)”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio has ''trattamento'' “way of receiving someone”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses it for “to treat (someone)”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1799 – ''Trattativa'' “negotiation” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1939–1940 – Palazzi records “to process (a substance)”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To deal with, discuss or set out a subject in speech or writing; intransitive ''trattare di'', to be about: ''Il libro tratta della vita nei monasteri medievali.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|negotiate]], to bargain over: ''trattare l'acquisto di un terreno'', ''il prezzo è trattabile, si può trattare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|treat]] someone in a certain way: ''Mi ha sempre trattato come uno di famiglia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a shop, hotel or restaurant, to serve its customers in a certain way.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To have dealings with someone, especially in business; to deal in a product.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To handle or use something with care or without it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To process a material or substance: ''trattare il legno contro i tarli.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine)'' To treat a disease or patient.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trattato]]

+ * [[trattamento]]

+ * [[trattativa]]

+ * [[trattabile]]

+ * [[intrattabile]]

+ * [[trattazione]]

+ * [[trattatista]]

+ * [[maltrattare]]

+ * [[trattarsi]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trarre]]

+ * [[tratto]]

+ * [[ritrattare]]

+ * [[la|tractō]]

+ * [[en|treat]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''trattare con i guanti'' (to handle with kid gloves), ''trattare a pesci in faccia'' (to treat with contempt) and ''trattare dall'alto in basso'' (to look down on).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The impersonal ''trattarsi di'' means “to be a matter of”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}