legatura

Forms

legatura f (plural legature)^[1] An older and now disused form is Old Italian ligatura.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ligātūra (“binding, band”), from ligō (“to tie, bind”) with the suffix -tūra.^[4][5][6][1] The Latin word left popular outcomes in other Romance languages too: Romanian legătură, French liure, Old Occitan liadura and Catalan lligadura.^[7] Körting regarded it as a learned word almost everywhere, and Zingarelli calls the Italian word an adaptation of the Late Latin one.^[8][3] DEI notes Tarantino liatura “a skein of fifty threads”.^[9]

Latin ligō has no certain cognates outside Latin; de Vaan tentatively derives it from a root Proto-Indo-European *liǵ- (“to tie”) and compares Albanian lidh (“to tie”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Medieval Latin ligatura is recorded in Salimbene's chronicle in 1281–1282.^[11] The Italian word first appears in Iacopone, before 1306, for the act or result of tying;^[11][6] Nocentini dates it to 1277–1282.^[4] Cavalca writes of the legature degli calzari, the laces of the shoes, that loosened by themselves.^[2]

Semantic evolution

DEI records a 14th-century sense of a spell that made a bridegroom impotent on the wedding night, still known in folk tradition.^[9][6] Bookbinding followed before 1499 in Alamanno Rinuccini, music in 1561 in Citolini, and the nautical sense in 1602.^[11][9] DEI, by contrast, dates the musical sense only to 1602, in Zarlino.^[12] Salviati used the word for syntax before 1589.^[11]

In writing it is the stroke joining letters in cursive script and, since the 18th century, two letters fused into one character.^[12][6] Medicine adds the ligation of blood vessels.^[6][13] French took the musical sense as ligature in 1703, and English uses legatura in music.^[14]

Timeline

• 1281–1282 – Medieval Latin ligatura in Salimbene.^[11]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses legatura for tying.^[11][6]
• Before 1499 – Alamanno Rinuccini uses it for bookbinding.^[11]
• 1561 – Citolini uses it for a curved line joining two notes.^[11][14]
• Before 1589 – Salviati uses it for syntax.^[11]
• 1602 – The nautical sense is recorded.^[9]
• 1703 – French ligature in music, from Italian.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act, manner or result of tying; the knot or tie used, or the point where something is tied: allentare la legatura del sacco.^[6][5][15]
2. The binding of a book, rilegatura: un volume con legatura in pelle.^[6][5][15]
3. (surgery) The ligation of a blood vessel or duct, and the point where it was done.^[6][16]
4. (music) A curved line over notes to be played without a break: a slur (legatura di portamento) or a tie (legatura di valore).^[5][6][3]
5. (jewellery) The setting of a gem, montatura.^[6][5][15]
6. (textiles) The interlacing of warp and weft that forms the weave.^[6]
7. (nautical) A seizing: thin line wound round two ropes or two parts of one rope to join them.^[6][13]
8. In cursive writing, the stroke that joins one letter to the next.^[6][5][15]
9. (typography) A ligature, a character in which two or more letters are fused, logotipo.^[6][5][15]
10. (folklore) A spell or curse, especially one meant to make a bridegroom impotent on the wedding night.^[6][3]

Related words

• legare
• legamento
• rilegatura
• Latin ligātūra

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2193
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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2194
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana