lavatura

Forms

lavatura f (plural lavature)^[1] An old form is Old Italian lavadura.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin lavātūra, a noun of lavō (“to wash”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DEI finds the Late Latin word in Pelagius and calls the type pan-Romance.^[7] Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani derive it within Italian from lavare and the suffix -tura, and Wiktionary allows both views.^{[8][9][10][1]}

The same word is French lavure (Old French lavedure, 11th century), Old Occitan lavadura, Spanish lavadura, Portuguese lavadura and Romanian lături (“slops”).^[7][5][1]

The Latin verb comes from Proto-Italic *lowō and Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”), and is related to Ancient Greek λούω (loúō, “I wash”).^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Sienese document of 1277–1282, for the act of washing something.^[2] Iacopone (before 1306) uses it for a woman's washing of her face to whiten it: si è bruna embiancase con far sua lavatura.^[4][12][2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word for washing a part of the body, cloth or the face with cosmetics, and figuratively for cleansing from sin.^[2] The concrete sense, the water in which something has been washed, is in Cavalca (before 1342).^[4] Its contempt for thin food is old in dialect: Cherubini (1840) gives Milanese lavadura de piatt with the sense “pigswill”, and lavatura di piatti “watery broth” is recorded in Italian in 1957.^[4] Lavatura di fiaschi is watered wine.^[10] As a name for the act of washing, lavatura has given way almost everywhere to lavaggio.^[10]

Timeline

• 1277–1282 – A Sienese document has the first record.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses it of washing the face.^[4][12]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses it for the water something was washed in.^[4]
• 1840 – Cherubini records Milanese lavadura de piatt.^[4]
• 1957 – Lavatura di piatti “watery broth” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. washing: the act of washing linen, dishes or other things, especially in the textile industry; now usually lavaggio.^{[3][13][9][10][1]}
2. dishwater: the water in which something has been washed: Ha buttato la lavatura nel lavandino.^{[3][8][10][1]}
3. (figurative, derogatory) In lavatura di piatti: a thin, tasteless broth or weak coffee, and in lavatura di fiaschi, watered wine.^[8][13][10]
4. (geology) The extraction of grains of metal or of gems from sandy or quartz rocks by washing them with water.^[8]

Related words

• lavare
• lavaggio
• lavamento
• Latin lavō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c 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 h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2187
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ 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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli