minaccia Italian · revision 38707

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Della caducità della vita umana|origins=la minae}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /miˈnat.t͡ʃa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''minaccia''' ''f'' (plural minacce)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[roa-oit|manace]] (plural), [[m|roa-oit|manaza]]; dialect ''manazza'', ''menaza'', ''minazza''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|minācia|t=threat]], a singular formed late; classical Latin used only the plural [[m|la|minaciae]], found in Plautus.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary) The noun was formed from the adjective [[m|la|mināx|t=threatening]], properly “about to fall, overhanging”, from [[m|la|minor|t=to threaten; to jut out, hang over]], the verb that also gave Italian [[menare]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968) The same word is [[fr|menace]], [[oc|menasa]], [[ca|menassa]], [[es|amenaza]], [[pt|ameaça]] and Logudorese [[sc|minatta]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The verb itself comes from [[m|la|minae|t=threats; parts of a wall that jut out]].^(Devoto 1968)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan takes the first sense to be “a protruding part” and connects it with [[m|la|ēmineō|t=to stand out]], [[m|la|mentum|t=chin]] and [[m|la|mōns|t=mountain]], from a root [[ine-pro|*men-|t=to stick out]];^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) Devoto too links it with “mōns” and with [[m|la|immineō|t=to hang over]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) DELI calls the origin of the verb obscure.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Because Latin used the word mostly in the plural, Old Italian often did too, and the grammarian Buonmattei even denied that good writers used the singular.^(DELI 1999) The verb [[minacciare]] is formed from the noun, but it may be very old: DELI points to [[la-vul|*minaciō|alt=*minaciāre]], recorded as “manatiare” in the Reichenau Glosses of about 750.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the plural ''manace'' in the 13th-century poem ''Della caducità della vita umana'', in the sense of an act or speech meant to frighten; the figurative sense “danger of a coming evil” is in Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The form ''minacce'' is in Dino Compagni's chronicle (1310–1312).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the ''Inferno'' Dante writes “ma vergogna mi fer le sue minacce” (“but his threats put shame in me”), and Boccaccio that threats are nothing but the weapons of the one who is threatened.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Beside the plural ''minacce'', literary Italian kept an old plural ''le minaccia''.^(GDLI)

+

+ In modern Italian the word has a legal sense, the offence of making someone fear an unjust harm, which the GDLI describes at length.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) The figurative senses widened from a danger hanging over someone to any sign of something bad approaching, as of a storm or an illness.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Ethology took it for the display an animal makes to drive off rivals or predators.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – The plural ''manace'' is recorded in ''Della caducità della vita umana''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for a danger to come.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – The verb ''minacciare'' is recorded in Brunetto Latini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni writes ''minacce''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1516 – ''Minaccioso'' “threatening” appears in Ariosto's ''Orlando furioso''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|threat]]: words or acts meant to frighten someone with the prospect of harm or punishment, often to force them to do something: ''Ha ceduto solo dopo le minacce del vicino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' The offence of making someone fear an unjust harm.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|danger]] hanging over someone or something; a sign that something bad is approaching: ''Sulla fabbrica pesa la minaccia della chiusura.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(medicine)'' An early sign of an illness or attack.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(ethology)'' The behaviour an animal shows to drive away rivals of its own species or predators.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[minacciare]]

+ * [[minaccioso]]

+ * [[minaccevole]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[menare]]

+ * [[eminente]]

+ * [[imminente]]

+ * [[monte]]

+ * [[la|minae]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}