socio Italian · revision 38880

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1221, Sienese document|origins=itc-pro *sokjos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsɔ.t͡ʃo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''socio''' ''m'' (plural soci)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|socius|t=companion, ally]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Sabatini–Coletti contrasts it with the inherited [[soccio]], which Nocentini records from the 14th century as a term of livestock sharecropping.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010) The literary variant [[sozio]] was common in Boccaccio and Ariosto.^(Prati 1951|924)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The same Latin word gave [[es|socio]], while [[fr|associé]] is a derivative.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin noun is already found in Archaic Latin, in an inflected form on the Garigliano Bowl, and goes back to [[itc-pro|*sokjo-]] and [[ine-pro|*sokʷ-(h₂)-i-o-|t=companion]].^(de Vaan 2008) Its relatives include [[sa|सखा|tr=sákhā|t=friend]], [[ang|secg|t=man, warrior]] and [[non|seggr]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary takes the word back to the root [[m|ine-pro|*sekʷ-|t=to follow]] of [[la|sequor]], while de Vaan leaves open whether the source was a collective “comrades” or an adjective “following”.^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is a Sienese inventory of 1221 listing the goods of Orlando d'Ugolino, which notes ''xv pecore tra lui e il socio'', “fifteen sheep between him and his partner”.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GDLI) DELI gives the earliest sense as “companion, friend”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''socio'' meant a friend or companion, also as a form of address, a political or military ally, a fellow member of a religious order, and a kinsman.^(TLIO) Boccaccio's characters call each other ''sozio'': ''che diavolo hai tu, sozio Calandrino?'', “what the devil is wrong with you, mate Calandrino?”^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The legal and commercial sense, a party to a partnership contract, is dated 1723 in Casaregi, and the sense “member of an association” is found before 1808 in Cesarotti.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo regretted that the word, once wider in meaning, had narrowed to business.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999) In pejorative use a ''socio'' is someone of the same kind as a disreputable person, and in slang the word is a form of address among men.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1221 – ''Socio'' appears in a Sienese inventory.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * 14th century – The literary variant ''sozio'' is recorded.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * 1723 – Casaregi uses it for a partner in a company.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1808 – Cesarotti uses it for a member of an association.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|partner]]: a person who takes part with others in a company or business venture: ''I due soci hanno aperto un ristorante insieme.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|member]] of an association, academy, club or similar body: ''Mia zia è socia del circolo del tennis.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(pejorative)'' A person of the same sort as another, a [[m|en|crony]]: ''Lui e i suoi soci vanno evitati.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' Friend, companion.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(slang)'' A form of address for a man, mate.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[associare]]

+ * [[associato]]

+ * [[associazione]]

+ * [[associazionismo]]

+ * [[consocio]]

+ * [[consociare]]

+ * [[dissociare]]

+ * [[dissociazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sociabile]]

+ * [[sociale]]

+ * [[società]]

+ * [[socievole]]

+ * [[soccio]]

+ * [[la|socius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}