racconto Italian · revision 39137

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1570, Lodovico Castelvetro|origins=la computō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /rakˈkon.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''racconto''' ''m'' (plural racconti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun formed in Italian from the verb [[raccontare|t=to tell]], with the ending [[-o]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) The verb is recorded from the late 13th century, in the “Novellino”; it is [[contare]] in the sense “to tell, relate”, with the prefix [[ra-]] for emphasis, like the archaic [[ricontare]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) This verb goes back to [[la|computō|t=to count, reckon]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Beside the noun there was an old participle ⟨racconto⟩ “told”, without the participle ending, which the GDLI and Zingarelli treat as a separate headword.^(GDLI|15, 232)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is from Lodovico Castelvetro in 1570, for “what is told”;^(DELI 1999) Tasso uses the word in 1594 for the manner or act of telling.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT dates the noun to 1576.^(GRADIT 2003) One of the GDLI's early quotations is Tasso asking whether Virgil does not bring in “il racconto d'Enea” in the second book of the ''Aeneid''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th to 19th centuries the word meant any account of facts, true or imagined: the GDLI quotes Leopardi on the distress the account of a friend's troubles causes him, and Mazzini on travellers' tales of brigands.^(GDLI) Tommaseo noted that ''fare un racconto'' could mean to embroider the facts.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ From the 19th century ''racconto'' also became a literary term: a prose narrative shorter and simpler than a novel, the English short story.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) Zingarelli places it between the ''romanzo'' and the shorter ''novella''.^(Zingarelli 2010) Diminutives are ''raccontino'' and ''raccontuccio''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – the verb ''raccontare'' appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1570 – Castelvetro uses ''racconto'' for “what is told”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1576 – GRADIT's date for the noun.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1594 – Tasso uses it for the act of telling.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|narration]], an orderly account of facts, situations or words: ''Il suo racconto della serata ci ha fatto ridere tutti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # What is told, a [[m|en|story]]: ''Non so se credere al racconto del testimone.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literature)'' A [[m|en|short story]], a prose narrative shorter and less complex than a novel: ''Ha pubblicato una raccolta di racconti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A narrative passage of a poem.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[raccontino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[raccontare]]

+ * [[contare]]

+ * [[conto]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Racconto'' as a short participle of ''raccontare'' (''le cose racconte'', the things told) is obsolete and literary.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|15, 232)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}