vestire

Vestire is an Italian verb meaning to clothe or to dress someone or something. It can refer to clothing a person, an animal, or an object, and it is also used in medical contexts to mean dressing or covering a wound. The reflexive form vestirsi means to get dressed oneself. In figurative use, vestire can describe outfitting someone or something in a particular attire or role, as in vestire i panni di qualcuno.

Etymology and related forms: vestire comes from Latin vestire, related to vestis, meaning garment. Cognate verbs appear in other Romance languages, such as vestir in Spanish, vêtir in French, and vestir in Portuguese.

Conjugation and key forms: vestire is a regular -ire verb. In the present indicative, the forms are: io vesto, tu vesti, lui/lei veste, noi vestiamo, voi vestite, loro vestono. The imperfect is vestivo, vestivi, vestiva, vestivamo, vestivate, vestivano. The future is vestirò, vestirai, vestirà, vestiremo, vestirete, vestiranno. The past participle is vestito (masc.) or vestita (fem.), used with the auxiliary avere in most tenses (ho vestito, hai vestito). The reflexive present is: mi vesto, ti vesti, si veste, ci vestiamo, vi vestite, si vestono. The passato prossimo with reflexive is: mi sono vestito/vestita, ci siamo vestiti/e.

Usage notes: In everyday Italian, vestire governs a direct object (dress the child, vestirsi). In medical language it can mean to apply a bandage or dressing to a wound (vestire una ferita). Common phrases include vestire i panni di qualcuno (to take on someone else’s clothes or role).