spegnere

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Latin expingere, from ex- (out) +‎ pingo (paint), with a semantic change from 'remove colour/color' to 'fade, dim', probably influenced by extingere.[2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈspeɲ.ɲe.re/[3][1]
    • Audio:(file)
    • Rhymes: -eɲɲere
    • Hyphenation: spé‧gne‧re
  • IPA(key): (traditional) /ˈspɛɲ.ɲe.re/[3][1]
    • Rhymes: -ɛɲɲere
    • Hyphenation: spè‧gne‧re

Verb

spégnere or (traditional) spègnere (first-person singular present spéngo or (traditional) spèngo, first-person singular past historic spénsi or (traditional) spènsi, past participle spénto or (traditional) spènto, auxiliary avére) (transitive)

  1. to turn off (a light, motor, television, etc.)
    Antonym: accendere
    Spegni la luce!
    Turn off the light!
  2. to extinguish, to put out (a fire, candle, etc.)
    I vigili del fuoco hanno spento le fiamme.
    The firefighters extinguished the flames.
  3. (figurative) to extinguish (a controversy, debt, one's anger, etc.)
  4. to quench (thirst)

Conjugation

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 spegnere in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025
  2. ^ spegnere in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
  3. 3.0 3.1 spegnere in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

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