sindaco Italian · revision 38930

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1278–1279, Florentine documents|origins=grc σύνδικος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsin.da.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sindaco''' ''m'' (plural sindaci, feminine sindaca)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old form is ''sindico''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) GDLI records regional forms such as ''sìnnico'', ''sìnteco'' and ''scéndeco''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|syndicus|t=representative of a community]], from [[grc|σύνδικος|tr=súndikos|t=advocate, public defender]], a compound of [[m|grc|σύν|tr=sún|t=with, together]] and [[m|grc|δίκη|tr=díkē|t=justice]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) Devoto glossed it as “one associated in the administration of justice”.^(Devoto 1968)^(Gabrielli 2020) In Greek and Roman antiquity the word named the legal representative of a community.^(Wikizionario)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The /a/ of the unstressed second syllable for Latin /i/ is a regular change in words stressed on the third-last syllable, as in [[cronaca]] and [[tonaca]].^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The Latin word also gave [[fr|syndic]] and [[es|síndico]], and [[sc|sindigu]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Florentine documents of 1278–1279, for “one who acts in the name and interest of another”.^(DELI 1999) The sense “representative of the commune” follows in the statutes of Montagutolo (1280–1297).^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In medieval Italy a ''sindaco'' could be the representative of a commune in lawsuits, an official who audited the accounts of consuls or of the podestà, a collector of taxes, the head of a rural community or of a guild, or the administrator of a monastery.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) The statutes of the Calimala guild (1332–1337) use it for an auditor, and Florence had an office of ''Sindaci'' that reviewed the state's accounts.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The verb ''sindacare'' “to examine an official's conduct” is recorded from 1292–1324.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The modern sense, head of a municipality, comes from the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; after unification the ''sindaci'' replaced the ''gonfalonieri'' of Tuscany and the ''podestà'' of Lombardy.^(DELI 1999) Since a law of 1993 the mayor has been elected directly by the citizens.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The commercial code of 1882 introduced ''sindaci'' as the auditors of a company.^(DELI 1999) The modern ''sindacato'' “trade union” (1900), ''sindacale'' (1905) and ''sindacalismo'' (1905) are calques of French ''syndicat'', ''syndical'' and ''syndicalisme''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) English uses ''sindaco'' for an Italian mayor from 1902.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1278–1279 – Florentine documents have the first record.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1280–1297 – The statutes of Montagutolo use it for the representative of the commune.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''sindacato'' for an audit of an official's conduct.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1332–1337 – The statutes of the Calimala guild use it for an auditor.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1849 – A political dictionary explains ''sindaco'' as the head of the commune in the southern and Sardinian kingdoms.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1882 – The commercial code names the auditors of joint-stock companies ''sindaci''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1902 – English ''sindaco'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1993 – A new law makes the mayor directly elected.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|mayor]], the head of a municipal administration, now elected directly by the citizens: ''Il sindaco ha inaugurato la nuova biblioteca.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law, economics)'' A statutory [[m|en|auditor]], a member of the board that supervises the management of a company.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' In antiquity and the Middle Ages, the legal representative of a community; also other medieval officials, such as an auditor of accounts.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sindacare]]

+ * [[sindacato]]

+ * [[sindacale]]

+ * [[sindacabile]]

+ * [[sindachessa]]

+ * [[prosindaco]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|syndicus]]

+ * [[fr|syndic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The feminine is ''sindaca''; the masculine is also used for a woman, and ''sindachessa'' is jocular.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}