giovane

Forms

giovane m or f by sense (plural giovani, superlative giovanissimo)^[1] The literary variant is giovine.^[2][3] Old forms include Old Italian giovano, Old Italian gioane and Old Italian giovene.^[4][5] In the old Venetian texts the word is Old Italian çovene.^[6][7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iuvenis (“young; young person”), through a spoken form Vulgar Latin *iovenis with /o/ in the first syllable.^{[4][2][8][9][1]} The unstressed vowel after the stress opened to /a/, as usual in words stressed on the third-to-last syllable.^[10][8] The same word is French jeune, Occitan jove, Catalan jove, Spanish joven, Portuguese jovem and Romanian june.^[2][7]

The Latin word is an old Indo-European adjective.^[11][2] It is related to Sanskrit युवन् (yúvan, “young”), Old Church Slavonic юнъ (junŭ, “young”) and Lithuanian jáunas (“young”), and, with a suffix in -k-, to Old High German jung, English young and iuvencus (“young bullock”), the source of giovenco.^[2][11][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₂iu-h₁en- (“having vital force”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum.^[6] DELI finds the adjective in 13th-century Florentine texts, “younger”, distinguishing two people of the same name, in Bono Giamboni (before 1292), and the noun in Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294).^[4] In one of Guittone's poems a speaker says “Giovane sono, gioventa vogli' usare” (I am young, I want to enjoy my youth).^[5]

Semantic evolution

Guittone also uses the word for “inexperienced”, and a 14th-century Bible translation for “having the qualities of youth”.^[4] In the papers of the merchant Francesco Datini (1400) a giovane is a shop assistant or clerk, as in giovane di bottega.^[4][12] The senses “recently born or formed” (1869) and of wine and cheese “not aged” (1887) are modern.^[4]

In the 18th and 19th centuries giovane and giovine alternated, and Mazzini named his association Giovine Italia (1831).^[4][13] The family includes giovinezza (late 13th century), of which Dante says “giovinezza è colmo de la naturale vita” (youth is the peak of natural life), giovanile (before 1294) and giovanotto (15th century).^[4][2] In advertising the adjective now also means “for young people”, as in moda giovane.^[9][12]

Timeline

• 13th century – Giovane is recorded in Florentine texts.^[4][9]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the noun and the adjective giovanile.^[4]
• 1304–1308 – Dante defines giovinezza in the Convivio.^[4]
• 1400 – The Datini papers use giovane for a shop assistant.^[4]
• 1831 – Mazzini founds the Giovine Italia.^[13]
• 1869 – The sense “recently born or formed” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. young, between adolescence and maturity, or not yet old: È morto giovane, a trentadue anni.^[9][3][8][1]
2. Too young for something, inexperienced: Sei ancora giovane per capire.^[9][3][12]
3. Younger, and after a name, the Younger: Plinio il Giovane.^[9][3][13]
4. youthful in looks or spirit: Mia nonna è rimasta giovane di carattere.^[9][3][8]
5. Meant for the young: moda giovane.^[9][12]
6. Of animals and plants, born or planted recently.^[9][8] Of states and institutions, recently formed, and of wine or cheese, not aged.^[9][8][12]

Noun

1. A young man or woman, a youth: I giovani di oggi leggono poco.^[9][12][1]
2. A shop assistant or apprentice: giovane di bottega.^[12][13]

Word family

• giovinezza
• gioventù
• giovanile
• giovanotto
• giovanetto
• giovinetto
• giovinastro
• giovincello
• ringiovanire
• giovanilismo

Related words

• giovanilista
• giovanilistico
• giovenco
• Latin iuvenis
• French jeune

Usage notes

Da giovane means “in one's youth”.^[9][13] Giovine is now literary.^[2][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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 d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana