mollare Italian · revision 38893

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1303–1306, Giordano da Pisa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /molˈla.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mollare''' (first-person singular present mòllo, first-person singular past historic mollài, past participle mollàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a verb formed from [[molle]] “soft, yielding”, so first “to slacken”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini counts it as an Italian formation of Romance origin.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest record is intransitive, “to give in, stop”, in Cecco Angiolieri (before 1313) and in the sermons of Giordano da Pisa (1303–1306).^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio writes of someone who ''non mollò mai'' until he had become Buffalmacco's friend, “never gave up”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century the verb was a sailors' word: a song of the time has ''da la pope mola via la soga'', “let go the rope at the stern”, and Bartolomeo Crescenzio (1602) describes slackening the sheets.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The transitive sense “to loosen or let go” is recorded in D'Ayala's naval dictionary of 1853.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Colloquial senses spread in the 20th century: “to stop it” (1918), “to give, land” a blow (Gadda, 1957), and “to leave, dump” a job or a partner.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The phrase ''tira e molla'' “give and take; shilly-shallying” comes from pulling and slackening a rope.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses ''mollare'' “to give in, stop”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses the same sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Molare'' “to let go a rope” appears in a song.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1602 – Bartolomeo Crescenzio uses ''mollare'' as a nautical term.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1853 – D'Ayala records “to slacken, let go”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – Panzini records “to stop it”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1957 – Gadda uses it for “to land” a blow.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|let go]], loosen: ''mollare la presa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(nautical)'' To slacken or cast off a rope, ''mollare gli ormeggi'', to cast off, ''mollare l'ancora'', to drop anchor.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To leave, abandon, [[m|en|dump]]: ''Ha mollato il lavoro in banca per aprire un bar.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To land (a blow), to give; to palm off: ''mollare uno schiaffo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To [[m|en|give up]], yield: ''Non mollare proprio adesso!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(intransitive, colloquial)'' To stop doing something.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''mollarsi'' (colloquial): to split up.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[molla]]

+ * [[ammollare]]

+ * [[smollare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[molle]]

+ * [[mollo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second, regional and northern ''mollare'' means “to soak, to soften in water”, as in ''mettere a mollare i fagioli''; it is formed from ''mollo'' “wet”, influenced by ''molle'', and is recorded from the 14th century.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|2489) Boccaccio's ''mollare'' is an old synonym of “to stop, cease”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The imperative ''molla!'' is an order to let go.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}