prudere

See also: prüdere

Italian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *prūdere, with dissimilation and a change in conjugation from Latin prūriō (“to itch or tingle”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpru.de.re/^[1]
Rhymes: -udere
Hyphenation: prù‧de‧re

Verb

prùdere (third-person only, third-person singular present prùde, third-person singular past historic (rare) prudétte or (ditto, traditional) prudètte or (rare) prudé, no past participle)

(intransitive) to itch
Synonym: prurire

Usage notes

Properly speaking, the verb can only be employed in third-person. One may use it figuratively with other persons as a kind of mediopassive: Prudo dalla voglia di andare would mean "I itch from wanting to go", i.e. "I'm itching from wanting to go"; the verb fremere (“quiver”) is more used in this sentence.

The past participle is not-exstant, with people occasionally coining forms like *pruduto, *pruso or prurito (this latter being the deverbal) when forced to create one on the spot.

Conjugation

Conjugation of prùdere (root-stressed -ere; third-person only; defective) (See Appendix:Italian verbs)

person	singular			plural
infinitive	prùdere
auxiliary verb		—	gerund		prudèndo
present participle		prudènte	past participle		—
person	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	io	tu	lui/lei, esso/essa	noi	voi	loro, essi/esse
present	—	—	prùde	—	—	prùdono
imperfect	—	—	prudéva	—	—	prudévano
past historic	—	—	prudétte¹, prudètte^1,2, prudé¹	—	—	prudéttero¹, prudèttero^1,2, prudérono¹
future	—	—	pruderà	—	—	pruderànno
conditional	—	—	pruderèbbe, pruderébbe	—	—	pruderèbbero, pruderébbero
subjunctive	che io	che tu	che lui/che lei, che esso/che essa	che noi	che voi	che loro, che essi/che esse
present	—	—	prùda	—	—	prùdano
imperfect	—	—	prudésse	—	—	prudéssero
imperative	—	tu	Lei	noi	voi	Loro
imperative		—	—	—	—	—
negative imperative		—	—	—	—	—

¹Rare.
²Traditional.

Related terms

References

^ prudere in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025