indagare Italian · revision 39031

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1504, Pandolfo Collenuccio|origins=la agō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /in.daˈɡa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''indagare''' (first-person singular present indàgo, first-person singular past historic indagài, past participle indagàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|indāgō|alt=indāgāre|t=to track down, trace, investigate]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1999) The Latin verb depends on the hunting noun [[m|la|indāgō|t=ring of hunters; investigation]], the source of [[indagine]], which first meant the driving of game into a space closed by nets, then the enclosure itself, and in imperial times figuratively an inquiry.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) That noun is a compound of the prefix [[m|la|ind-|t=in]], a strengthened form of [[m|la|in-]], and the root of [[m|la|agō|t=to drive]].^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) Devoto compares other formations with the same prefix, such as [[indigeno]] and [[industria]].^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ DELI counts the verb and its noun among the many Latinisms that took hold from the 17th century on.^(DELI 1999) The same learned verb is [[es|indagar]].^(Nocentini 2010) Latin also had the derivatives [[m|la|indāgātor]], the source of [[indagatore]] (15th century), and [[m|la|indāgābilis]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI and GRADIT date the verb before 1504, in Pandolfo Collenuccio, transitively, “to search out carefully”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Zingarelli has 1499.^(Zingarelli 2010) Collenuccio writes of a man eager to investigate closely the form, nature and cause of a great fire and eruption.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The intransitive use, “to carry out inquiries”, is recorded before 1683 (Vittorio Siri); in 1942 Panzini's dictionary noted the stock phrase ''la polizia indaga'', “the police are investigating”.^(DELI 1999) The original hunting sense, of dogs and hunters tracking down game, is recorded in Italian too, but it is now obsolete.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ Today the verb belongs above all to the language of justice: ''indagare su un omicidio'' “to investigate a murder”, and, transitively, ''indagare qualcuno'' “to put someone under investigation”; the past participle ''indagato'' names a suspect.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) In literary use it can also mean “to scrutinize”: D'Annunzio writes of his mother scrutinizing his sleep.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 15th century – ''Indagatore'' “investigator” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1504 – Pandolfo Collenuccio uses ''indagare''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1630–1631 – Galileo uses ''indagine'' for “study, analysis”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1683 – Vittorio Siri uses the verb intransitively.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1690 – ''Indagabile'' appears in Paolo Segneri.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – Panzini notes the stock phrase ''la polizia indaga''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|investigate]], study or examine systematically in order to find out: ''Gli scienziati indagano le cause del fenomeno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(transitive, law)'' To place someone under judicial investigation: ''La procura ha indagato il sindaco per corruzione.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To carry out an [[inchiesta|alt=inquiry]], especially a judicial one (+ ''su''): ''I carabinieri indagano sul furto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To gather information, often secretly, about something: ''indagare sulle intenzioni di qualcuno''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Of hunters or dogs, to track down game.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[indagine]]

+ * [[indagatore]]

+ * [[indagato]]

+ * [[indagabile]]

+ * [[indagazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[investigare]]

+ * [[agire]]

+ * [[la|indāgō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''La polizia indaga'' “the police are investigating” is a stock phrase already noted by Panzini in 1942.^(DELI 1999) The past participle ''indagato'' is also a noun, “person under investigation, suspect”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}