latte

Forms

latte m (countable and uncountable, plural latti, diminutive-endearing lattùccio or latticèllo)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian lacte, Old Italian late, Old Italian layte and Old Italian lat, and in some texts the word is feminine.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin lacte, the form of classical Latin lac (“milk”) in later Latin.^[4][5][6][7] The Latin neuter was already treated as a masculine, with the accusative lactem, in Petronius, in inscriptions and in late texts, and in some dialects the word became feminine.^[4][1] DÉRom reconstructs *lacte for every Romance language: Romanian kept the neuter, most of the Romance area made it masculine, and Spanish and Portuguese feminine.^[8]

The same word is French lait, Occitan lach, Catalan llet, Spanish leche, Portuguese leite, Sardinian latte and Romanian lapte.^[5][9][8] The Latin noun has a clear relative only in Ancient Greek γάλα (gála), genitive γάλακτος (gálaktos).^[5][10][11] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *(g)lagt- and Proto-Indo-European *glgt- (“milk”), with the first /g/ lost in Latin by dissimilation, and rejects the idea of a loan from Greek.^[11] Nocentini suggests that there is no common Indo-European word for so basic a food because its names were given within the family, among women.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur of the late 12th century, and DELI's in Iacopone da Todi, who died in 1306.^[2][4][6] The sense is the white liquid from the breasts of mammals that feeds the young.^[4][2] Iacopone praises the Virgin, who had milk senza sementa, without seed.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had phrases still in use: dare il latte “to suckle”, levare dal latte “to wean”, figliuolo di latte for a child nursed by a wet nurse, and latte di gallina for an exquisite food.^[2] Milk as food from cows, sheep and goats appears in the 14th-century Serapion, beside cheese and butter.^[4]

Latte di gallina, egg yolk beaten in milk with sugar and rum, is recorded before 1576, and Aretino in 1534 says someone enjoys everything down to “hen's milk”.^[4] Francesco Redi used latte for any milky liquid before 1698, and latte di cocco followed.^[4] The 20th century named the products of the dairy industry: latte scremato (1901), latte pastorizzato (1903) and latte in polvere (1914).^[4]

Via lattea is modelled on Latin via lactea, the shining road of the gods in Ovid.^[4] The derivative latticinio goes back, as Johann Ramminger showed, to a misreading lacticinia in some copies of a rule for nuns wrongly ascribed to Saint Jerome.^[5] English took latte, short for caffè latte, for an espresso with milk, by 1990.^[12]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur use the word.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses latte.^[4]
• 14th century – The Italian Serapion uses it for milk as food.^[4]
• 1534 – Aretino has the phrase “hen's milk”.^[4]
• Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses latte for a milky liquid.^[4]
• 1901 – Latte scremato “skimmed milk” is recorded.^[4]
• 1903 – Latte pastorizzato is recorded.^[4]
• 1914 – Latte in polvere “powdered milk” is recorded.^[4]
• 1990 – English latte “coffee with milk” is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. milk: the white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals to feed their young: Il vitello beve il latte della mucca.^[6][7][13]
2. Milk from cows, goats or other animals as a food and drink: Ogni mattina beve una tazza di latte caldo.^[6][13][1]
3. A drink or dessert made with milk.^[13][4]
4. A milky liquid: latte di cocco (coconut milk), latte detergente (cleansing milk).^[13][4][7]
5. A pure white colour.^[6][14]

Adjective

1. (invariable) Milk-white: una camicia bianco latte.^[6][13]

Word family

• allattare
• lattaio
• lattante
• latteo
• latteria
• latticino
• latticinio
• lattiero
• lattiginoso
• lattemiele
• lattico

Related words

• lattuga
• Latin lac

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include denti da latte “milk teeth”, fratello di latte “foster brother nursed by the same woman”, avere ancora il latte alla bocca “to be still wet behind the ears” and far venire il latte alle ginocchia “to bore stiff”.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8, 826
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
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. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org