languore

Forms

languore m (plural languori)^[1] The older form is langore.^[2][3][4] The form languore is recorded from the 17th century.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin languor (“faintness, weariness”), from its accusative ⟨languōrem⟩.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is derived from langueō (“to be faint, languid”) with the suffix -or.^[6][1][7] The verb, the noun and languido all reached Italian by the learned route, whereas in Sardinian and Romanian the family of the Latin verb has popular outcomes.^[2] Romanian lingoare is the inherited form of the noun and means “typhus”.^[8][9]

The same Latin word gave French langueur, Old Occitan languor, Spanish langor and Portuguese langor.^[9] De Vaan derives the verb from an adjective Proto-Italic *langu- “faint, weak”, a nasalized form of the root of laxus (“loose”), and compares Ancient Greek λαγαρός (lagarós, “slack, thin”) and Old English slæc (“slack”), with a reconstruction Proto-Indo-European *sl-n-ǵ-u- given with a query.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is langore in an anonymous canzone of the 13th century, and in Iacopone da Todi, with the sense “physical or spiritual weakness”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian langore was weakness or illness of body or mind; a sermon of Fra Giordano speaks of one who chose to bear “all our languori”.^[11][2] From the 14th century it also meant a yearning or pining, in Loffi.^[2] The form languore is recorded from 1632–1639 in Guido Bentivoglio, who writes of the “weakness and languore of the body”.^[2][12] Foscolo and Manzoni used it for mortal exhaustion and grief: Manzoni's languor mortale.^[13]

Languore di stomaco, the empty feeling of hunger, is recorded before 1698 in Francesco Redi, and today a languorino is a slight appetite.^[2][4][13] In the plural the word took on the sense “affected airs, simpering”, recorded from 1871 in Carducci.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 13th century – Langore appears in an anonymous canzone.^[2]
• 14th century – The sense “yearning” is recorded, in Loffi.^[2]
• 1632–1639 – Guido Bentivoglio uses the form languore.^[2]
• Before 1698 – Francesco Redi writes languore di stomaco.^[2]
• 1871 – Carducci uses languori for affected airs.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. languor, a state of physical or mental weakness and prostration: un lungo languore dopo la febbre.^{[3][7][5][4][1]}
2. An attitude or expression of tender, often affected abandon: un sorriso pieno di languore.^[3][7][5][4]
3. (chiefly in the plural) Affected airs, simpering: non sopporto i suoi languori.^{[3][5][4][13]}
4. A feeling of emptiness in the stomach from hunger: languore di stomaco.^[3][7][14]

Word family

• languorino
• languoroso

Related words

• languire
• languido
• languidezza
• Latin languor
• French langueur

Usage notes

The diminutive languorino, often ironic, is used for a slight hunger.^[4][14][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
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. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana