supportare

Supportare is an Italian verb with several related meanings centered on providing support or backing. It can denote physical support, such as bearing a weight or holding something up, as well as more abstract forms of support, including financial or moral backing, assistance, or endorsement. In addition, it is used to indicate backing for a claim, project, or argument, and is common in professional and technical language.

Etymology and reception: supportare is a loanword from English, formed with the Italian infinitive ending -are. It entered Italian primarily through modern professional discourse, especially in information technology, business, and marketing. In formal writing, many speakers and writers favor traditional Italian alternatives such as sostenere (to back or sustain) for arguments or claims, and sopportare for enduring or bearing difficulties. As a result, supportare is often viewed as an anglicism, though it is widely understood and widely used in contemporary speech.

Usage notes: in everyday Italian it appears in sentences like supportare un progetto, supportare un peso, or supportare una richiesta, meaning to back or to provide backing for a project, weight, or request. For expressing endurance or toleration, sopportare remains standard. The past participle is supportato, and the verb forms follow regular -are conjugation patterns.

See also: sostenere, sopportare, supporto, sostegno.