Etymologically
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giovane

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈd͡ʒo.va.ne/[1]

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

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