-evole

Forms

-evole m or f by sense (adjective-forming suffix, plural -evoli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin -ibilis, together with -ēbilis, the suffixes that formed adjectives from Latin verbs with stems in ⟨-ē-⟩ and ⟨-ĕ-⟩.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Italian suffix later spread to verbal adjectives that had Latin -ābilis, which left no popular form of its own.^[6][4][1] The Latin suffix arose by rebracketing from verbal adjectives in -bilis.^[1]

Wiktionary explains the change of the Latin vowel to /o/ by the velar quality of the following /l/ in early Tuscan, as in topo from Latin talpa, and compares Sicilian -ìvili and Portuguese -ível.^[1] The learned forms of the same suffixes are -ibile and -abile.^[7][4][1]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forms adjectives from verbs, mostly with an active sense (that does what the verb says: durevole, piacevole) but also passive (that deserves or can undergo it: lodevole, pieghevole); they express aptitude, capacity, possibility or need.^[2][3][4][7]
2. Forms adjectives from nouns: favorevole, ragionevole, compassionevole.^[7][4][6]
3. From proper names, forms adjectives with a pejorative sense, such as cruschevole from the Crusca academy.^[4]

Word family

• durevole
• piacevole
• lodevole
• pieghevole
• favorevole
• ragionevole
• compassionevole
• amorevole
• cedevole
• girevole
• scorrevole
• onorevole
• incantevole
• biasimevole
• lacrimevole
• confortevole

Related words

• -ibile
• -abile
• -bile

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)