tradire Italian · revision 39342

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=la do}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /traˈdi.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tradire''' (first-person singular present tradìsco, first-person singular past historic tradìi, past participle tradìto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''tradere'' (14th century, Francesco da Barberino) and ''traire''.^(DEI|3850)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|trādō|alt=trādere|t=to hand over, deliver]], moved into the conjugation in ⟨-ire⟩, as in other Romance languages.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini counts it as a borrowing from Latin, Prati says it came in through the written language, and DEI calls it semi-learned.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Prati 1951|1007)^(DEI|3850) The Latin verb is made of [[m|la|trāns|t=across, beyond]] and [[m|la|dō|t=to give]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The same verb is [[fr|trahir]], [[pro|trair]], [[ca|trair]], [[pt|trair]], Engadine [[m|rm|tradir]] and [[ro|trăda]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907) Spanish uses the derivative [[m|es|traicionar]] instead.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The sense “to betray” goes back to Christian Latin, where the verb meant both to hand down (an inheritance, a doctrine) and to hand over treacherously to an enemy, and the Gospels use it for Judas handing Jesus over (“Iudas qui tradidit eum”), translating [[grc|παραδίδωμι|tr=paradídōmi|t=to hand over]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) DELI also cites the bishops called [[m|la|trāditor|alt=trāditōrēs]] who handed the sacred books to the authorities in Diocletian's persecution.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Dante is the first to use the verb, in the ''Divine Comedy'' (1300–1313), in the sense of deceiving someone's trust by failing in friendship, love, a promise or a duty.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In ''Inferno'' XXXIII Ugolino is accused of having betrayed the castles (''tradita te delle castella''), that is, handed them over.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''tradire'' could still mean to hand a city or a castle over to the enemy, as in Giovanni Villani.^(DEI|3850)^(Prati 1951|1007) Its derivatives are as old as the verb: ''tradimento'' (1304–1308) and ''traditore'' (1300–1313) are both in Dante, and ''a tradimento'' “treacherously” is in Guido da Pisa and Villani.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Later the verb was used of things that fail someone (1679, Paolo Segneri), and of a feeling or a fact revealed without wanting to (1877); the reflexive ''tradirsi'', to give oneself away, is recorded in the same year, although Tommaseo disapproved of it.^(DELI 1999) Today it also means being unfaithful to a partner and distorting the sense of a text in translating it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''tradire'' and ''traditore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''tradimento''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses ''a tradimento''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1679 – Paolo Segneri uses the verb for something that fails one.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1877 – The senses “to reveal unwittingly” and reflexive “to give oneself away” are recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|betray]]: to break someone's trust or fail in one's duty to them: ''Non avrebbe mai tradito i suoi compagni di squadra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To be [[m|en|unfaithful]] to one's partner: ''Ha scoperto che il fidanzato la tradiva.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To betray an ideal, a cause or one's country, to go against it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To disappoint hopes or expectations.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To distort, misrepresent the truth, a thought, or a text in translation.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of a faculty, to fail someone: ''Se la memoria non mi tradisce, ci siamo già visti.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To reveal a secret; to show a feeling without wanting to: ''Il tremito della voce tradiva la sua paura.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To hand over a city or a person to the enemy by treachery.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(reflexive, tradirsi)'' To give oneself away.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tradimento]]

+ * [[traditore]]

+ * [[tradigione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tradizione]]

+ * [[la|trado]]

+ * [[fr|trahir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}