peggiorare Italian · revision 39344

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la peior}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ped.d͡ʒoˈra.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''peggiorare''' (first-person singular present peggióro, first-person singular past historic peggiorài, past participle peggioràto, auxiliary (transitive, also alternatively when intransitive and with a person as the subject) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''piggiorare'', ''pegiorare'' and ''pigiorare''.^(GDLI|12, 937)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|peiōrō|t=to make worse]], a verb formed from [[la|peior|alt=pēior|t=worse]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DEI finds the Late Latin verb in the jurist Paulus.^(DEI|2822)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Devoto adds that the Italian verb was influenced by [[peggiore]], and Wiktionary notes that it can also be read as that adjective with the ending [[-are]].^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) The Latin /j/ between vowels became /ddʒ/, as in [[peggio]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Latin comparative serves as the comparative of [[m|la|malus|t=bad]]; the OLD compares it with [[sa|पद्यते|tr=pádyate|t=falls]] and with [[m|la|pessum|t=to the bottom]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bono Giamboni, who died in 1292, is the first to use the verb, in the transitive sense “to make worse”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The intransitive “to become worse” follows at the end of the 13th century in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used the verb for harming someone: in the ''Decameron'' a character complains “sì che tu mi piggioreresti in due modi” (“so you would do me harm in two ways”).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) That sense is now obsolete.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Giovanni Villani writes that the Church, hoping to improve its position, made it much worse (''troppo lo peggiorò'').^(GDLI|12, 937)

+

+ Intransitive uses spread to the weather, a situation, and a patient whose condition worsens.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In school language it also says that a pupil's marks are getting worse.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DEI notes the derivatives ''peggioramento'' (14th century, Giovanni Villani) and ''peggiorativo'', a grammatical term for a pejorative suffix.^(DEI|2822)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1268 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the transitive verb.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it intransitively, “to become worse”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Peggioramento'' is recorded in Giovanni Villani.^(DEI|2822)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To make [[m|en|worse]], to [[m|en|aggravate]]: ''Con quelle parole hai solo peggiorato le cose.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(transitive, archaic)'' To harm, damage someone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To become worse, to [[m|en|deteriorate]]: ''Nel pomeriggio il tempo è peggiorato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' Of a sick person, to get worse: ''Il paziente è peggiorato durante la notte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' Of a pupil, to get lower marks than before.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[peggioramento]]

+ * [[peggiorativo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[peggio]]

+ * [[peggiore]]

+ * [[migliorare]]

+ * [[la|peior]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Used intransitively it takes ''essere''; of a person it may also take ''avere''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) The standard stress of the present is ''peggióro'', while popular Tuscan has ''pèggioro''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The opposite is [[migliorare]].^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}