legge

Forms

legge f (plural leggi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian lege, recorded in the 13th century.^[2] The GDLI also lists old and dialect Old Italian leze and Old Italian léggie.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lēx (“law”), from the accusative ⟨lēgem⟩, with the doubled ⟨gg⟩ that is regular in Tuscan before a front vowel.^[2][4][5][1] The word is common to the Romance languages: French loi, Occitan lei, Catalan llei, Spanish ley, Portuguese lei and Romanian lege.^[4][6]

DELI and Devoto describe the Latin noun as an old term for binding religious law, with parallels only in Indo-Iranian, and DEI compares Avestan rāzar- (“rule, direction”).^[2][7][8] Nocentini adds Oscan–Umbrian cognates and thinks it belongs with legō in the sense “to pronounce”, so that a law was at first a solemn statement.^[4] De Vaan reconstructs a root noun Proto-Italic *lēg-, possibly “a collection” of rules, and finds no sure cognate outside Italic.^[9] The Christian sense came in with 4th-century writers, who used Latin ⟨lex⟩ to translate Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos), itself the rendering of Biblical Hebrew תּוֹרָה (tōrā).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the form lege in the 13th-century Storie de Troia et de Roma, and the form legge in Brunetto Latini, before 1294, for a rule laid down by those who govern.^[2][10] Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, uses it more broadly for any rule of conduct.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“The legal order of a state” is recorded about 1300, in the translation of Albertano, and “the science of law” in Giovanni Villani before 1348.^[2] The rule of an art or technique is in a 14th-century translation of Saint Jerome, and the scientific law, a constant relation between the quantities of a phenomenon, in Lorenzo Magalotti before 1712.^[2] A 14th-century commentary on the Lord's Prayer, quoted by Tommaseo, explains that law is so called because it binds (lega).^[11]

The 20th century added political compounds: legge delega (1955), legge ponte and legge quadro (1965) and legge truffa, the nickname of the electoral law of 1953.^[2] DELI derives legge quadro from German Rahmengesetz, probably through French loi-cadre.^[2] The diminutive leggina is in Italo Svevo, and, from 1965 it is a law made to favour narrow interests.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – Lege appears in the Storie de Troia et de Roma.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses legge.^[2]
• c. 1300 – The translation of Albertano uses it for a legal order.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for the science of law.^[2]
• Before 1712 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses it for a scientific law.^[2]
• 1798 – Uomo di legge “jurist” is recorded in Genoa.^[2]
• 1965 – Legge quadro and legge ponte are recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A principle that governs human conduct, such as the moral, natural or divine law.^[10][12][13]
2. A statute passed by a legislature: Il parlamento ha approvato la nuova legge sul lavoro.^[10][5][12]
3. The law as a whole, the legal system of a state: Nessuno è al di sopra della legge.^[5][14]
4. Law as a subject of study, jurisprudence: Mio fratello studia legge a Bologna.^[5][14]
5. (figurative) The rules of an art, discipline or activity.^[5][2]
6. (science) A constant relation between the variables of a phenomenon: la legge di gravità.^[2][15]
7. The authorities that enforce the law: in nome della legge.^[14]

Word family

• leggina

Related words

• legale
• legittimo
• legislatore
• leggere
• Latin lex

Usage notes

Common phrases include dettare legge “to lay down the law”, fuori legge “outside the law”, decreto legge “decree having the force of law” and disegno di legge “bill”.^[10][13]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8, 895
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2194
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 2, 1791
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana