Etymologically
Log in

lavoro

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 18:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

lavoro m (plural lavori)[1] An old form is lavore.[2][3]

Etymology

DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT take it as inherited from Latin labor (“toil, effort, work”), from the accusative ⟨labōrem⟩, with a change of declension.[2][4][5] DEI, Devoto, Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani, Gabrielli and GDLI treat it instead as a noun formed in Italian from lavorare, the verb that continues Latin labōrō (“to toil”);[6][7][8][9][10][11][3] Wiktionary does the same, adding that it may correspond to the Latin noun.[1] DELI itself notes that in Latin the relation between noun and verb may have run the other way.[2]

The Romance outcomes of the Latin noun mostly specialized in farm work: Catalan llavor (“seed”), Spanish labor, Portuguese lavor (“ploughing”) and Sardinian laore (“wheat”), and Sicilian lavuri (“standing grain”).[4][12] Elsewhere the ordinary word for “work” is of another origin, as in French travail and Spanish trabajo, and within Italy ⟨lavorare⟩ is hemmed in by ⟨travagliare⟩ in parts of Piedmont and Liguria and on the islands and by ⟨faticare⟩ in most of the south.[13][2]

The Latin noun, Old Latin labōs, is of uncertain origin.[1][14] It is often connected with labō (“to totter”), as the burden under which one staggers, and Nocentini with lābor (“to slip, fall”); de Vaan finds the connection unconvincing.[2][4][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

GDLI's earliest quotation is Mazzeo di Ricco's “li mastri contrafare lo lavore” (masters [know how to] counterfeit the work), in the 13th century, with lavore meaning a piece of work, a product.[3][2] The sense of productive activity in a trade is in the Rainardo e Lesengrino at the end of the 13th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the word for any accomplished work: in Paradiso 1 he asks Apollo's help “all'ultimo lavoro”, the last part of his poem.[16][2] Lavori pubblici “public works” is in Machiavelli before 1527, and the place where one works in Vasari in 1550.[2] In early Sicilian poetry lavoro meant the growing wheat, as in Giacomo da Lentini's “lo meo lavoro spica e poi no 'ngrana” (my wheat comes into ear and then bears no grain).[3]

The plural for the proceedings of a body is recorded in 1808, and the sense “paid job” and the figurative “intrigue, scheme” in Tommaseo–Bellini (1869).[2] The physical sense, force times displacement, is in the Enciclopedia italiana in 1933.[2] Lavoro nero “undeclared work” appeared in the newspapers about 1978;[2] DELI matches it with French travail noir, in use since the Second World War.[2]

Timeline

  • 13th century – Mazzeo di Ricco uses lavore for a piece of work.[3][2]
  • End of the 13th century – Rainardo e Lesengrino uses it for productive activity.[2]
  • Before 1527 – Lavori pubblici is recorded in Machiavelli.[2]
  • 1550 – Giorgio Vasari uses it for a workplace.[2]
  • 1808 – The plural is used for the proceedings of a body.[2]
  • 1869 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the senses “paid job” and “intrigue”.[2]
  • 1933 – The Enciclopedia italiana defines work in physics.[2]
  • c. 1978 – Lavoro nero appears in the newspapers.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The use of energy towards an end, by a person, animal or machine; in physics, the product of a force and the displacement of its point of application.[5][8][2]
  2. work, human activity producing goods or services: il lavoro manuale stanca ma dà soddisfazione.[5][9][17]
  3. A job, paid occupation: sta cercando lavoro da mesi.[5][9][11]
  4. The place where one works: torno dal lavoro alle sette.[5][9]
  5. A piece of work, the thing worked on or produced: un lavoro di ricamo.[10][2]
  6. (plural) Works, construction; the proceedings of a body: lavori in corso.[5][2]
  7. (ironic) A mess, a botched job: guarda che lavoro hai fatto con la vernice!.[8]

Word family

  • lavoretto
  • lavoraccio
  • superlavoro
  • dopolavoro

Usage notes

Common expressions are mettersi al lavoro (to set to work), lavori forzati (hard labour), lavoro a maglia (knitting) and cavaliere del lavoro (an Italian honour for entrepreneurs).[5][11][9]

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 p q r s t u v w x 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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2188
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 255
  8. ^ a b c 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 c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  14. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  17. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli