tradurre Italian · revision 38703

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1322–1351, Pisan statutes|origins=ine-pro *deuk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /traˈdur.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tradurre''' (first-person singular present tradùco, first-person singular past historic tradùssi, past participle tradótto, first-person singular imperfect traducévo, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[roa-oit|traducere]], [[m|roa-oit|transdutto]]; literary ''tradùcere''.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|trādūcō|alt=trādūcere|t=to lead across, transfer]], a learned word adapted to the pattern of [[condurre]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) The Latin verb is [[m|la|trāns-|t=across]] with [[m|la|dūcō|t=to lead]], which goes back to [[ine-pro|*deuk-|t=to draw]], also the source of [[got|𐍄𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽|tr=tiuhan|t=to draw]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) The same verb is [[fr|traduire]], [[es|traducir]] and [[pt|traduzir]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin verb did not mean “to translate”.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968) DELI, following Sabbadini (1916), and Devoto credit the new sense to Leonardo Bruni, who misread a passage of Aulus Gellius on an old Greek word “traductum in linguam romanam”, where the verb meant “carried over, transplanted”.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(DEI|3851) In the 15th century “tradurre” spread with this sense, dropped its others and replaced “traslatare” and “tralatare”, the older words for translating.^(DELI 1999) The bureaucratic sense “to take (a prisoner) from one place to another” is a calque of French “traduire”, a legal term from 1694, and so is “tradurre in atto” “to put into effect”, which Tommaseo advised replacing with “recare in atto”.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Pisan statutes of 1322–1351 (1343), in the sense “to move or bring from one place to another”.^(TLIO) DELI and GRADIT date the sense “to carry over” to Iacopo Passavanti in 1354, who writes that original sin “si transfonde e traduce col seme” (“is passed on and handed down with the seed”).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The TLIO already records the sense “to put a text into another language” before 1375.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to translate” took hold in the 15th century: the past participle ''tradotto'' “translated” is in Luigi Pulci before 1484, and Benedetto Varchi, before 1565, uses the verb both for translating from one language into another and for translating into one's own.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3851) ''Traduzione'' is recorded before 1557 and ''traduttore'' “author of a translation” before 1565.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The old senses of moving and passing on survived in literary use, and Tommaseo already marked the physical sense “to transport” as no longer usual.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010) In 1839–1841 the language of administration took from French the sense “to convey”, for prisoners taken to jail or to court, and in 1918 a train carrying troops in wartime was called a ''tradotta''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Figurative senses grew from translating: to put a thought in plainer words, or to turn an idea into a work, an act or figures.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1343 – ''Tradurre'' “to move from one place to another” is in the Pisan statutes.^(TLIO)

+ * 1354 – Passavanti uses it for passing something on.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1484 – Pulci uses ''tradotto'' for “translated”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1557 – ''Traduzione'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1565 – Varchi uses ''tradurre'' and ''traduttore'' for translating.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1703 – ''Intraducibile'' “untranslatable” is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1839–1841 – The bureaucratic sense “to convey” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – ''Tradotta'' “troop train” appears.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|translate]]: to put a text, a speech or a word into another language; also used absolutely, “to work as a translator”: ''Sta traducendo un romanzo dal portoghese.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To explain in simpler words what someone has said: ''Me lo traduci in parole povere?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To express or realize in another form, ''tradurre in atto'', ''in pratica'': to put into effect, ''tradurre in cifre'': to work out in figures.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To express a feeling or a state of mind in words.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(bureaucratic)'' To [[m|en|convey]] someone, especially a prisoner, from one place to another: ''L'arrestato è stato tradotto in questura.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(computing)'' To convert data or instructions from one language or form into another.^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' To [[m|en|transmit]], hand down.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(intransitive pronominal)'' ''Tradursi in'': to result in, become.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[traduzione]]

+ * [[traduttore]]

+ * [[tradotto]]

+ * [[tradotta]]

+ * [[traducibile]]

+ * [[intraducibile]]

+ * [[ritradurre]]

+ * [[traduttivo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[condurre]]

+ * [[duce]]

+ * [[la|trādūcō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}