partner Italian · revision 39064

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1862, F. Petruccelli|origins=la pars}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpart.ner/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''partner''' ''m or f'' by sense (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ In Italian the word is used for both sexes and is usually invariable, though the English plural ''partners'' is also found.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|partner]], recorded in Italian from 1862.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The English word is an altered form of Middle English [[m|enm|parcener|t=joint heir, sharer]], reshaped after [[m|en|part]], which goes back to [[fro|parçonier]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2786) Gabrielli traces the Old French noun to [[la-med|partionarius|t=participant, sharer]], and all the dictionaries derive it in the end from [[la|pars|t=part, share]].^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ DEI notes that the English word also passed into [[fr|partenaire]] and, unchanged, into French by 1767, and into [[de|Partner]].^(DEI|2786) The Latin noun is the source of Italian [[parte]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) De Vaan follows Schrijver in deriving it from [[itc-pro|*parti-]], a formation on the verb stem seen in [[m|la|pariō|t=to bring forth]], first meaning “lot, portion”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is from 1862, in a text by Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina, for one of a pair in the theatre, in sport or in dancing.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) In 1931 Panzini's dictionary of new words still glossed it as “companion”, the one who makes a pair in a game, a job or an outing, and observed that “elegant people say ''partner''”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first named a partner in a performance, a game or a dance, and this is still its first sense.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Montale wrote of an actress who stood a span taller than her ''partners''.^(GDLI) From the 1970s it also names either member of a couple in a love or sexual relationship, especially an unmarried one: DELI dates this sense to 1973.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ In business and politics it means a partner in a firm, and by extension a state, party or organisation allied to another, often placed after a noun as an adjective (''uno stato partner'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Nocentini records the English-derived noun [[partnership]] from 1953.^(Nocentini 2010) The set phrases ''sleeping partner'' and ''sparring partner'' are used in their English form.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1767 – ''Partner'' is recorded in French.^(DEI|2786)

+ * 1862 – Petruccelli della Gattina uses ''partner'' in Italian.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1931 – Panzini notes that elegant people say ''partner''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1953 – ''Partnership'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1973 – ''Partner'' is recorded for a member of an unmarried couple.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One of the two people forming a pair in a game, a sport, a show, a dance or any activity done in twos: ''In finale ha giocato con un nuovo partner.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Either person in a [[m|en|couple]] bound by a love or sexual relationship: ''Alla cena erano invitati anche i partner dei colleghi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[socio|alt=business partner]] or associate in a firm or in some work: ''È diventato partner dello studio legale.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(politics, economics)'' A state, party or organisation allied to another; also after a noun as an adjective: ''i partner commerciali dell'Italia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[partnership]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parte]]

+ * [[la|pars]]

+ * [[en|partner]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Italian speakers usually say /ˈpartner/, with the ''r'' pronounced, rather than the English /ˈpɑːtnə(r)/.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) The word takes the article of the person's sex: ''il partner'', ''la partner''.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}