Etymologically
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amare

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Pronunciation

Forms

amare (first-person singular present àmo, first-person singular past historic amài, past participle amàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin amō (“to love”).[2][3][4][1] The verb is found in nearly all the Romance languages, though not in Romanian: French aimer (older Old French amer, from the 9th-century “Sequence of Saint Eulalia”), Occitan amar, Catalan amar, Spanish amar, Portuguese amar and Sardinian amare.[3][5][6][7] In the dialects it has often been felt as a refined word and replaced by phrases such as “voler bene” and “aver caro”;[5][2][7] Catalan estimar and Spanish querer serve in much the same way in Catalan and in Spanish and Portuguese.[5][2][7]

The origin of the Latin verb is debated: DELI and Zingarelli call it pre-Indo-European, and DEI and Devoto connect it with a Mediterranean root also seen in the Etruscan name of Eros on a mirror.[2][8][6][9] Nocentini thinks it probably comes from children's language, beside Latin amma (“mother”) and amita (“aunt”).[3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *amā- (“to take, hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃mh₃- (“to take hold of”), the root of Ancient Greek ὄμνυμι (ómnumi, “I swear”): the meaning would have passed from “to take someone's hand” to “to regard as a friend”.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Contrasto of Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, about 1190, with lines in Genoese, and its first sense is the intimate love of one person for another.[11] The LEI has Old Piedmontese amer in the Sermoni subalpini of about 1200.[5] DELI's first record is in Giacomino Pugliese, at the beginning of the 13th century, with the sense “to feel and show deep affection”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the verb for sexual love, for goodwill towards neighbours and kin, for the love of God, and for attachment to an idea, a virtue or a vice.[11] Dante's Purgatorio says that “l'animo, ch'è creato ad amar presto, / ad ogni cosa è mobile che piace” (the soul, created quick to love, is moved towards everything that pleases).[12] Giovanni Villani has amar meglio “to prefer”.[13]

The learned derivatives come from Latin: amabile (1270–1275), used of a sweetish wine from 1499, amatorio (14th century) and amatore.[2] Amatore “lover” (before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini) is almost certainly Old Occitan amador, and amatore “connoisseur, collector” a calque of French amateur, which purists opposed with dilettante.[2] Amanza “love” was borrowed from Old Occitan amansa, a key word of troubadour poetry.[5] Today the verb also says that a plant needs certain conditions, and Treccani notes the sense “to appreciate, like (a book)” under the influence of French aimer.[4][14]

Timeline

  • c. 1190 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras uses amar in Genoese lines.[11]
  • c. 1200 – Old Piedmontese amer is recorded in the Sermoni subalpini.[5]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses amante and amatore.[2]
  • Early 13th century – Giacomino Pugliese uses amare.[2]
  • 1270–1275 – Amabile is recorded in the Fiori di filosofi.[2]
  • 1758 – Amatore is recorded for a connoisseur of the arts.[2]
  • 1979 – Amatoriale “amateur” is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To love, feel affection for (family, friends): amare i propri figli.[4][15][16]
  2. To be in love with; to make love to; also absolute: Non ha mai smesso di amarla.[4][15][14]
  3. To love with a spiritual or religious love: amare Dio, amare il prossimo.[4][15][16]
  4. To be attached to, devoted to (a thing, an ideal): amare la propria terra.[4][15]
  5. To enjoy, have a liking for; in negative sentences, not to like: Non amo molto i film dell'orrore.[4][15]
  6. To wish, prefer (with an infinitive or che and the subjunctive).[4][15][8]
  7. Of plants and animals, to need or thrive in: Il limone ama il sole.[4][15][16]
  8. (reciprocal, amarsi) To love each other.[16][8][14]

Word family

  • amante
  • amato
  • amabile
  • amabilità
  • amatore
  • amatorio
  • amatoriale
  • riamare
  • disamare

Usage notes

Amare is also the feminine plural of amaro “bitter”, and Old Italian had an adverb amare “bitterly”, taken from the Latin adverb (Francesco da Barberino, 1314).[11][17] The infinitive was used as a noun in Old Italian, “love” (Jacopone).[6][17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 473
  6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 151
  7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 29
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 373
  13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 46
  14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  17. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET