accusare Italian · revision 39019

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1065–1080, Umbrian confession formula|origins=la causa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ak.kuˈza.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''accusare''' (first-person singular present accùso, first-person singular past historic accusài, past participle accusàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ The oldest form, in an Umbrian text, is [[roa-oit|adcusare]].^(LEI|1, 336)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|accūsō|t=to accuse]], a learned word, from [[m|la|ad-]] and [[m|la|causor|t=to plead as an excuse]], a verb from [[m|la|causa|t=cause, lawsuit]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The LEI, however, files the Italian verb among the inherited outcomes of the Latin, with [[fr|accuser]] (from the 10th century), [[pro|acuzar]], and [[es|acusar]], [[ca|acusar]] and [[pt|acusar]].^(LEI|1, 336) Forms without the initial vowel, perhaps from a misdivision of the article and noun (⟨l'accusa⟩ read as ⟨la cusa⟩), include Engadine [[m|rm|chüsa]] “accusation”.^(LEI|1, 336)

+

+ The noun [[accusa]] is a back-formation from the verb.^(DELI 1999) The card term [[accuso]], a declaration at cards, is more probably the first person singular ⟨io accuso⟩ “I declare” used as a noun.^(DELI 1999) The grammatical [[accusativo]] is [[la|accūsātīvus]], an inexact rendering of [[grc|αἰτιατική|tr=aitiatikḗ]], the “case of what is caused”, which Latin grammarians understood as the case of the accusation.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is an Umbrian confession formula of 1065–1080, from Norcia, with the sense “to blame, to hold guilty”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The LEI dates the form ''adcusare'' to about 1080.^(LEI|1, 336)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the verb also meant to confess one's own sins, to bring a charge in court, and to reveal or declare: Dante uses it for “to make known”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio has it for “to show, to betray” about 1336.^(LEI|1, 336)

+

+ Annibal Caro, before 1566, used it for acknowledging a letter, and Redi, before 1698, wrote ''accusar la ricevuta'';^(DELI 1999) DEI and Panzini took ''accusare ricevuta'' as a calque of French ''accuser réception'' (1823), but DELI notes that the Italian is older than that phrase.^(DELI 1999) The card-game sense is recorded in 1688.^(DELI 1999) ''Accusare un dolore'' “to complain of a pain”, noted in the 18th century, entered doctors' usage only in the 19th.^(DELI 1999) Sports language added ''accusare il colpo'' “to show the effect of a blow”, said of fencers and boxers and figuratively of anyone hit by a setback.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1065–1080 – An Umbrian confession formula has ''adcusare''.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''accusa'' and ''accusatore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “to reveal”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for acknowledging a letter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1688 – The sense “to declare at cards” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1698 – Redi writes ''accusar la ricevuta''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1758 – Antonio Cocchi uses it in medicine, for showing a symptom.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1823 – French ''accuser réception'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|accuse]], to [[incolpare|alt=blame]]; to reproach someone with something, followed by ''di'': ''Lo accusano di aver tradito la squadra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' To charge someone before the courts with an offence: ''È stato accusato di frode.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To feel and declare a pain or ailment: ''Il paziente accusa un forte mal di testa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To show, to [[rivelare|alt=reveal]]; to suffer visibly from something: ''Dopo la salita il ciclista accusava la stanchezza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(bureaucratic)'' To acknowledge: ''accusare ricevuta'', to confirm receipt of a letter or parcel.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(card games)'' To declare a combination or points.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(fencing)'' To admit having been touched.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # (reflexive ''accusarsi'') To declare oneself guilty.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[accusa]]

+ * [[accusabile]]

+ * [[accusativo]]

+ * [[accusato]]

+ * [[accusatore]]

+ * [[accusatorio]]

+ * [[accuso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[causa]]

+ * [[scusare]]

+ * [[fr|accuser]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Accusare il colpo'' means to show the effect of a blow, literally or figuratively.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI) The past participle [[accusato]] is also a noun, “the accused”.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}