leggio

Forms

leggio m (plural leggii)^[1] An old spelling is Old Italian legio.^[2] Old Bolognese lezile (1341) and Old Imolese legile (1427) have another suffix.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin logēum (“speaking platform”), from Ancient Greek λογεῖον (logeîon, “stage, platform; pulpit”), with its form changed under the influence of leggere (“to read”).^{[4][5][6][7][1]} The Greek noun is formed from λόγος (lógos, “word”), from λέγω (légō, “I speak”).^[3][7] The Latin word meant a place for speaking, a platform, and Sabatini–Coletti and Prati note a sense “archive”.^[8][9][10] Latin also had a form logium, and Meyer-Lübke set up Vulgar Latin *legium for the Italian word.^[5][1][11] Treccani derives the word directly from the Greek noun crossed with the verb.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, about 1284, is in Florentine texts: members of a confraternity are to come each evening to the church of San Gillio and set out lo leggio e lo libro delle laude (“the lectern and the book of lauds”) for the singing.^[13][2]

Semantic evolution

Early records are of the church lectern: the statutes of the confraternity of Orsanmichele list uno paio di ferri da leggio, “a pair of irons for a lectern”, and an Italian version of the Rule of Saint Benedict has the lessons read sopra 'l legio.^[2][10] Luigi Marsili tells a correspondent he keeps his letters on the bookrest before his eyes.^[2] In the 16th century Vasari and Raffaello Borghini use the word for a painter's easel, and in 1722 Bianchini for a pulpit.^[10][3]

Tommaseo records the rest on a piano and the phrase rimettere sul leggio, to start playing a piece again.^[14] Today it is above all the stand for a book or a musical score, from the folding metal stand of an orchestra to the stand on an altar.^[12][6]

Timeline

• c. 1284 – Florentine texts record leggio “lectern”.^[13][2]
• 1341 – Old Bolognese lezile is recorded.^[3]
• 1427 – Old Imolese legile is recorded.^[3]
• 1500s – Vasari uses leggio for a painter's easel.^[10][3]
• 1722 – Bianchini uses it for a pulpit.^[10][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bookrest or lectern: a stand with a sloping top that holds an open book, sheets or a musical score: Appoggiò il messale sul leggio dell'altare.^{[5][15][9][12]}
2. A music stand, usually portable and folding.^[6][1]
3. (archaic) A pulpit.^{[5][15][6][16]}
4. (archaic) A painter's easel.^[15][7]

Related words

• leggere
• alleggio
• Latin logeum

Usage notes

The word is stressed leggìo, with the plural leggii.^[15][9] GRADIT has a separate nautical noun leggio (1957), stressed léggio, which is alleggio shortened at the front.^[5][2][12] An old adjective lèggio “soft; light (of a ship)” is Latin levius (“lighter”), the comparative of levis (“light”).^[3][2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2195
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 584
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ 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
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana