promessa Italian · revision 38967

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Inghilfredi|origins=la prōmittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /proˈmes.sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''promessa''' ''f'' (plural promesse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|promissa|t=promise]], originally the neuter plural [[m|la|prōmissum|alt=prōmissa|t=things promised]], the past participle used as a noun of [[m|la|prōmittō|t=to send forward; to promise]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) The neuter plural was reinterpreted as a feminine singular.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The Latin verb is a compound of [[m|la|prō-|t=forward]] and [[m|la|mittō|t=to send]].^(Devoto 1968)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in the 13th-century poet Inghilfredi of Lucca, with the sense “the act of promising, a promise”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A line of Dante's ''Inferno'' promises triumph from “a long promise with short keeping” (''lunga promessa con l'attender corto'').^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Old Italian also used the word for a legal obligation or guarantee, now obsolete.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) Proverbs and set phrases kept the moral weight of the word: ''ogni promessa è debito'' “every promise is a debt”, while a ''promessa da marinaio'', a sailor's promise, is one quickly forgotten.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The law knows the ''promessa di matrimonio'' and the ''promessa di vendita''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ From the 20th century the word is used of a person, a young talent who promises great success, as in ''una promessa del calcio'';^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI first records this in a dictionary of 1958.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Inghilfredi uses ''promessa''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1958 – The sense “promising young talent” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|promise]], an undertaking freely made to someone or to oneself: ''Ti faccio una promessa: domani torno presto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' A binding undertaking to give or do something: ''promessa di vendita''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A promising young person, a rising talent, especially in sport or the arts: ''È una giovane promessa del ciclismo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' What one is led to expect from present signs.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[promesso]]

+ * [[promettere]]

+ * [[promissario]]

+ * [[la|prōmissum]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Promessa'' is also the feminine of the participle [[promesso]]; as a noun it means “fiancée”, as in ''promessa sposa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}