catturare Italian · revision 38968

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1482, Iaconello da Rieti|origins=la capiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kat.tuˈra.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''catturare''' (first-person singular present cattùro, first-person singular past historic catturài, past participle catturàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Dialect forms include Genoese [[m|lij|cattûrâ]], Bolognese [[m|egl|caturar]], Romagnol [[m|rgn|caturé]] and Sicilian [[m|scn|catturàri]].^(LEI|11, 996)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|cattura|-are|t1=capture, arrest]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) [[cattura]] is [[bor|la|captūra|t=a taking; catch]], from [[m|la|capiō|t=to take]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI and Nocentini treat it as a learned word; the LEI, by contrast, takes the noun as a popular continuation of the Latin word, found mainly in Italy, and only an Old Lucchese [[m|roa-oit|captura]] as a Latinism.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|11, 996) [[fr|capture]], with its verb [[fr|capturer]], and [[es|captura]] are Latinisms of the 15th and 16th centuries.^(LEI|11, 996)

+

+ De Vaan traces the Latin verb to [[itc-pro|*kapi-|t=to seize]], related to [[got|𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=hafjan|t=to lift]] and [[grc|κάπτω|tr=káptō|t=to gulp down]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The LEI's first record is in Iaconello da Rieti (1482), with the sense “to take prisoner in war”.^(LEI|11, 996) The sense “to arrest a wrongdoer” is recorded in Traiano Boccalini in 1612, and in Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger in 1618, where someone asks why the guards are not out “to catch those madmen”.^(LEI|11, 996)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb first belonged to war and police work: Tommaseo describes it as what the constables do, and Cesare Beccaria writes that milder punishments would let the law be content with weaker evidence for arresting.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GDLI) It was soon used of things as well, of goods seized as contraband.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ The capture of wild animals alive, with traps and nets, followed the noun ''cattura'', which has that sense from 1906.^(LEI|11, 996)^(GRADIT 2003) Geography uses the verb for a river that widens its basin by eroding into a neighbouring one and taking its waters (1956); the noun in this sense is perhaps a calque of [[fr|capture]].^(DELI 1999) Figurative uses such as ''catturare l'attenzione'' “to capture attention” and the computing sense “to capture data” are modern.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Catturando'' “wanted fugitive” is recorded from 1985 and ''ricatturare'' “to recapture” from 1983.^(LEI|11, 996)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1332 – The noun ''cattura'' appears in a Pisan statute.^(TLIO)

+ * 1482 – Iaconello da Rieti uses ''catturare'' for “to take prisoner in war”.^(LEI|11, 996)

+ * 1612 – Traiano Boccalini uses it for “to arrest”.^(LEI|11, 996)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1618 – Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger uses it.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1956 – The geographical sense, of rivers, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1983 – ''Ricatturare'' “to recapture” is recorded.^(LEI|11, 996)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|capture]], to [[m|en|arrest]] someone, especially after a long hunt: ''La polizia ha catturato i due rapinatori al confine.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To take prisoner in war; to seize something in a military action: ''catturare un convoglio nemico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To catch a wild animal alive, with nets or traps: ''I guardiacaccia hanno catturato un orso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(transitive, figurative)'' To attract, win: ''catturare l'attenzione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(geography)'' Of a river, to widen its basin by taking the waters of a neighbouring stream.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(computing)'' To store data found, for example, on the internet in a file; to download.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ricatturare]]

+ * [[catturando]]

+ * [[catturabile]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cattura]]

+ * [[capire]]

+ * [[cattivo]]

+ * [[la|capiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}