investire Italian · revision 39250

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo Laurenziano|origins=la vestis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /in.vesˈti.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''investire''' (first-person singular present invèsto, first-person singular past historic investìi, past participle investìto, auxiliary avére or (intransitive in the nautical meaning) èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[m|roa-oit|invistire]] and [[m|roa-oit|envistire]].^(GDLI|8, 424)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|investiō|t=to clothe, adorn, surround]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) In Medieval Latin the verb meant to put someone in possession of a fief or a dignity, because the feudal grant was made with a ceremony of clothing, the investiture.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ The Latin verb is formed with the prefix [[m|la|in-]] on [[m|la|vestiō|t=to clothe]], from [[m|la|vestis|t=clothing]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) That noun goes back to [[ine-pro|*wes-ti-]], from the root of [[grc|ἕννυμι|tr=hénnumi|t=to clothe]] and [[sa|वस्ते|tr=váste|t=wears]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The verb is learned in the other Romance languages too: [[fr|investir]] and [[es|investir]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) Popular outcomes are [[scn|mmèstiri]] and [[ro|învesti]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2083) The sense “to attack” is Italian: it developed in military language from “to gird, surround”, the enemy being hemmed in on every side, and passed around 1400 into French and in the 16th century into [[es|embestir|t=to charge]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2083)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DELI sees three layers in the family: the feudal one, an early commercial one owed to the growth of capitalism in Italy, and a modern one of traffic, prepared by the nautical sense of running into something.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the Ritmo Laurenziano of the end of the 12th century, in the feudal sense of granting a fief or a dignity:^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) “neither Latin nor German nor Lombard nor French: I invest no better king than him, so fresh he is in goodness” (''Né latino né tedesco né lombardo nè francesco / suo mellior re no ’nvestisco, tant’è di bontade fresco'').^(GDLI|8, 424)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the feudal sense Old Italian drew ''essere bene investito'' “to be well off” (before 1313, Cecco Angiolieri).^(DELI 1999) The commercial sense, to put money into a business for a profit, is found in a letter of a Sienese merchant of 1262 (''investire in draparia'', in the cloth trade) and in Domenico Cavalca before 1342.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ The sense “to attack, assail” is recorded in a Genoese document of 1435 and in Cristoforo Landino before 1498, “to run into with violence” in 1565, and the reciprocal ''investirsi'', of ships colliding, in 1602.^(DELI 1999) In the 20th century the verb came to be used for a vehicle running over a person or hitting another vehicle;^(DELI 1999) ''investito'', the victim of a road accident, is recorded in 1969 and ''investitore'', the driver who causes it, in 1955.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The economic sense passed into English, where [[m|en|invest]] (1613) is a semantic calque of the Latin and Italian verbs, and into German [[m|de|investieren]] in the 19th century.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The Ritmo Laurenziano uses the verb in its feudal sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1262 – A Sienese merchant writes of investing in the cloth trade.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses the commercial sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1363 – ''Investimento'' appears in the Italian translation of Marsilius of Padua.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1435 – The sense “to attack” appears in a Genoese document.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1565 – The sense “to run into violently” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1613 – English ''invest'' takes the economic sense.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1969 – ''Investito'' “road accident victim” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To grant someone a fief, a title or a dignity, especially by a formal act: ''Il re lo investì del titolo di conte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To entrust an authority officially with a task: ''Il tribunale è stato investito della questione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To [[m|en|invest]] money or resources in something to obtain a profit; also used without an object: ''Ha investito l'eredità in buoni del tesoro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To devote time, energy or feeling to something: ''In questo progetto ho investito anni di lavoro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To strike with violence, to [[m|en|assail]], also figuratively: ''Appena entrato, lo investirono di domande.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of a vehicle, to hit another vehicle or [[m|en|run over]] a person: ''Un camion ha investito un motorino all'incrocio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military)'' To assault a fortified place.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(nautical)'' Intransitive, with ''essere'': to run onto a rock or a shoal or collide with another vessel.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[investimento]]

+ * [[investitore]]

+ * [[investitura]]

+ * [[investito]]

+ * [[investibile]]

+ * [[reinvestire]]

+ * [[disinvestire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[veste]]

+ * [[vestire]]

+ * [[rivestire]]

+ * [[la|vestis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The reflexive ''investirsi'' means to claim a title or power for oneself, and also to identify fully with a role or a feeling.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}