indovino Italian · revision 39277

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=13th century, Bergamasque paraphrase of the Decalogue|origins=la dīvīnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /in.doˈvi.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''indovino''' ''m'' (plural indovini, feminine indovina)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|indivino]], [[roa-oit|indevino]], [[roa-oit|endivino]], [[roa-oit|'ndovino]] and the northern [[roa-oit|indovin]].^(TLIO)^(GDLI|7, 846)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun of [[indovinare|t=to divine, guess]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(TLIO)^(GDLI|7, 846) DEI and Treccani explain it instead as [[der|la|dīvīnus|t=soothsayer, prophet]] remade on the Italian verb, and Devoto as a crossing of that Latin noun with the verb.^(DEI|2008)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The verb goes back to [[la-vul|*indīvīnō]], formed from the prefix [[m|la|in-]] and [[m|la|dīvīnō|t=to foretell]], a derivative of [[m|la|dīvīnus|t=divine]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini explains the pretonic ⟨o⟩ of the Italian forms as a change of ⟨i⟩ before the following labial.^(Nocentini 2010) The old form [[m|roa-oit|indivino]], used by Francesco da Barberino in 1314, shows that writers were aware of the link with the Latin family.^(DELI 1999) The verb has the cognates [[fr|deviner]], [[oc|devinar]], [[es|adivinar]] and [[pt|adivinhar]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in a Bergamasque paraphrase of the Ten Commandments, perhaps of the mid-13th century, for someone who knows or reveals the future or hidden things by divination or prophetic spirit.^(TLIO) DELI's first dated example is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, and Zingarelli dates the word to 1287.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Bono Giamboni writes that what soothsayers, “compositori di bugie” (“makers of lies”), say by chance does not always come true for them.^(GDLI|7, 846) In ''Inferno'' 20 Dante describes the women who “lasciaron l'ago, / la spuola e 'l fuso, e fecersi 'ndivine” (“left the needle, the shuttle and the spindle, and became soothsayers”).^(GDLI|7, 846) Old Italian also used the word as an adjective for animals and for anyone gifted with prophetic powers, and as an abstract noun meaning “a prediction”.^(TLIO)

+

+ Petrarch (1374) has the extended sense “someone who foresees correctly”.^(DELI 1999) The adjective “presaging” is literary;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Tasso writes of “la mente, indovina de' lor danni” (“the mind, foreseeing their misfortunes”).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The ''gioco dell'indovino'' is a children's game in which a blindfolded player must recognise the companion who touched him.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) The noun also became an occupational surname, ''Indovino''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – A Bergamasque paraphrase of the Decalogue has the word, as the TLIO dates it.^(TLIO)

+ * 1287 – Date of first record in Zingarelli.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''indovino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante writes ''fecersi 'ndivine'' in the ''Inferno''.^(GDLI|7, 846)

+ * 1314 – Francesco da Barberino uses the form ''indivino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1374 – Petrarch uses ''indivina'' for someone who foresees correctly.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|fortune-teller]], [[m|en|soothsayer]]: someone who claims to foresee the future or to interpret hidden things through magic or a special link with the supernatural: ''La regina mandò a chiamare un indovino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(by extension)'' Someone who guesses or foresees correctly what will happen.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(literary)'' Foreseeing, presaging future events.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary, rare)'' [[m|en|divinatory]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[indovinare]]

+ * [[indovinello]]

+ * [[divino]]

+ * [[divinare]]

+ * [[la|dīvīnus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The feminine is ''indovina''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In familiar speech ''non sono mica indovino!'' (“I'm not a mind-reader!”) excuses someone for not having known something in advance.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Indovino'' is also the first person singular present of [[indovinare]], ''io indovino'' (“I guess”).^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}