insistere Italian · revision 38827

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1327, Cecco d'Ascoli|origins=la sistō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /inˈsis.te.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''insistere''' (first-person singular present insìsto, first-person singular past historic insistétti or (traditional) insistètti or insistéi, past participle insistìto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|īnsistō|alt=īnsistere|t=to stand on; to persist]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|sistō|t=to set up; to stand still]] with the prefix [[m|la|in-|t=on]], and so meant literally “to stand upon”, then “to press on, to persist”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2050) The same verb is [[fr|insister]] (1336) and [[es|insistir]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2050)

+

+ Nocentini describes [[m|la|sistō]] as a reduplicated form of [[m|la|stō|t=to stand]], the base also of [[esistere]].^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*s(t)i-sta/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*sti-sth₂-|t=to make stand]], with cognates such as [[grc|ἵστημι|tr=hístēmi]] and [[sa|तिष्ठति|tr=tíṣṭhati]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ DEI traces some southern dialect words to the Latin participle [[m|la|īnsistēns]], perhaps through a semi-learned form: [[scn|nantistu|t=importunate]] and [[nap|nz'ištë|t=stubborn]].^(DEI|2050)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is Cecco d'Ascoli's ''Acerba'' (before 1327).^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “to go on saying or doing something obstinately” to Guido da Pisa in the 14th century, and the GDLI quotes him: when we insist too much on the active life, we are partly men and partly beasts.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLIO records in Old Italian “to apply oneself with persistence to something”, “to return to a subject and stress it”, the literal “to stand over”, and in war “to press hard”.^(TLIO) Galileo used the verb for an angle whose sides pass through the ends of an arc, a sense that geometry still has.^(DEI|2050)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The participle ''insistente'' is recorded in Manzoni (1840–1842), and ''insistenza'' in the 14th century.^(DELI 1999) Modern Italian has kept the literal sense in building and legal language, where a building ''insiste'' on a plot of land.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 14th century – Guido da Pisa uses it for “to persist”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1336 – French ''insister'' is recorded.^(DEI|2050)

+ * 17th century – Galileo uses it for an angle standing on an arc.^(DEI|2050)

+ * 1840–1842 – Manzoni uses ''insistente''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|insist]], [[m|en|persist]] obstinately in a request, action or behaviour: ''Se insisti, ti accompagno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To dwell on a subject, stress it: ''Il relatore insisté sui costi del progetto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sports)'' To keep up pressure on an opponent.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(building, law)'' Of a building, to stand on a site.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(geometry)'' Of an angle, to have its sides through the ends of an arc.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary)'' To stand over, loom.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[insistente]]

+ * [[insistenza]]

+ * [[insistito]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[esistere]]

+ * [[resistere]]

+ * [[assistere]]

+ * [[persistere]]

+ * [[la|insisto]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The verb takes ''avere''; the past historic is ''insistetti'' or, less often, ''insistei'', and the past participle ''insistito''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) ''Non insisto'' is said when giving in to another's arguments.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}