albeggiare

Forms

albeggiare (first-person singular present albéggio, first-person singular past historic albeggiài, past participle albeggiàto, auxiliary èssere)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian alba + -eggiare, from the noun “dawn” with the verb suffix.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The LEI groups it with the dialect verbs that point to Vulgar Latin *albidiāre (“to dawn”), some ending in ⟨-iare⟩ and others in ⟨-eggiare⟩, alongside Friulian albeâ and Occitan aubejà.^[7] Wiktionary takes it from *albizāre, from Latin albus (“white”), with the sense “to turn white” from albo (“white”).^[1][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first sure record is in Matteo Bandello's Novelle (1554): prima che il giorno albeggiasse (“before the day dawned”).^[8][9][10] An earlier example from the Libro della cura delle malattie, given by the Crusca, the Tommaseo and the GDLI, is a forgery.^[8][11]

Semantic evolution

Already in Florio's dictionary of 1598, and in Erasmo di Valvasone in 1602, the verb also meant “to shine white”.^[10] The present participle albeggiante “whitish” goes back to the 14th century, in the Ottimo commentary on Dante.^[10] Alfieri has Vedi: già albeggia (“Look: it is already dawning”), and the Tommaseo records in 1865 the figurative sense “to be at the very beginning”, of a civilisation.^[8][9][11]

Dialect forms are widespread, from Genoese arbezzâ and Venetian albizar to Corsican albigghià.^[10]

Timeline

• 14th century – The participle albeggiante “whitish” appears in the Ottimo commentary.^[10]
• 1554 – Bandello uses albeggiare “to dawn”.^[8][2]
• 1598 – Florio records it for shining white.^[10]
• 1865 – The Tommaseo records the figurative “to be at the beginning”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (impersonal) To dawn, to grow light: in giugno albeggia molto presto.^[2][3][5]
2. (intransitive) To be lit by the first light of day.^[2][3]
3. (literary) To shine white, to whiten.^{[2][3][4][12]}
4. (figurative, literary) To begin to appear, to be in its beginnings.^[2][3][4][5]

Word family

• albeggiamento

Related words

• alba
• albo
• biancheggiare

Usage notes

Zingarelli dates the verb before 1334, but DELI shows that the 14th-century example cited by older dictionaries is false.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1496
8. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 286
10. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana