confine Italian · revision 39076

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1264, Pisan document|origins=la fīnis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /konˈfi.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''confine''' ''m'' (plural confini)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|confino]] and a feminine [[m|roa-oit|confina]].^(GDLI)^(LEI|16, 1384) Forms of the TLIO include [[roa-oit|chonfine]] and [[roa-oit|cunfine]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|confīne|t=boundary]], a learned word: the neuter of [[m|la|cōnfīnis|t=bordering, having a common boundary]], formed from [[m|la|con-|t=together]] and [[m|la|fīnis|t=boundary, limit]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) [[fine|alt=Fine]] “end” continues the same Latin noun.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin adjective lives on in Old Engadine [[m|rm|cuffin|t=bordering]], and as a noun in Middle French [[m|frm|confin]], [[ca|confins]] (1695) and [[es|confín]] (1438); the modern form is the plural [[fr|confins]].^(LEI|16, 1384)^(Nocentini 2010) [[fur|cunfin]] is masculine as in Italian.^(LEI|16, 1384) Italian took the word into Tyrolean German, as [[m|de|Konfin]].^(DIFIT)

+

+ DELI does not think that [[confino]] “internal exile” comes from [[confinare]], as DEI and others say, but that it is an old variant of this noun that came to specialise in this sense.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini keeps the derivation from the verb.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a Pisan document of 1264, and DELI's a Florentine text of 1269, both for the line that bounds a piece of land: “These are the boundaries of the one piece: on the first side the road …” (''Questi sono i confini de l'uno pezo'').^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the bounds of property recorded in notarial deeds, the word spread to the frontier of a city, region or state, and to any limit not to be crossed.^(TLIO) Dante uses it for the “limit, furthest point” (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999) In the plural it named a penalty: ''stare ai confini'' was to live in banishment (Dino Compagni, 1301–1312), and the special form ''confino'' kept this sense down to the police measure of 1797 and later.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+

+ The old adjective “bordering” (1342, a Perugian statute) and its figurative use “similar” have died out.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|16, 1384) Linguistics speaks of a ''confine sillabico'', a syllable boundary.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1264 – A Pisan document has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * 1269 – A Florentine text lists the boundaries of a plot of land.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses the verb ''confinare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1301–1312 – Dino Compagni has ''stare ai confini'' “to be in exile”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “limit”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1342 – A Perugian statute uses the adjective “bordering”.^(TLIO)

+ * 1797 – ''Confino'' is recorded for the police measure.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|border]], [[m|en|frontier]]: the line that bounds the territory of a state or region: ''Al confine con la Svizzera ci hanno controllato i documenti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The boundary of a field or property, and the stone, post or fence that marks it: ''Hanno spostato il confine del campo di un metro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A zone of transition between linguistic or cultural areas.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' The boundary between units: ''confine di sillaba''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(usually plural)'' The farthest part, and ''(figurative)'' the extreme limit: ''ai confini della realtà''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A country or region.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(archaic, usually plural)'' Banishment, exile.^(GRADIT 2003)^(TLIO)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Bordering, neighbouring; also ''(figurative)'' similar, and exiled.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[confinare]]

+ * [[confinante]]

+ * [[confinario]]

+ * [[confinato]]

+ * [[confino]]

+ * [[sconfinare]]

+ * [[sconfinamento]]

+ * [[sconfinato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fine]]

+ * [[la|cōnfīnis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Senza confine'' means “boundless”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) A ''confine naturale'' follows a natural feature such as a mountain range, while a ''confine politico'' is set by agreement.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}