levistico

Forms

levistico m (plural levistici)^[1] Old Italian forms include levestigo and livistico.^[2] The form Old Italian libistico is recorded from the 14th century.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Late Latin levisticum, an altered form of Latin ligusticum (“Ligurian”).^{[5][6][7][8][1]} The plant was called “Ligurian” because it was common in Liguria.^[8][9][10] The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek Λιγυστικός (Ligustikós).^[1]

According to the DEI, followed by the TLIO, the Latin of the Middle Ages replaced the name of the Ligurians with that of the Libyans, giving Medieval Latin libysticum.^[3][2] The form with ⟨-v-⟩ is found in the veterinary work attributed to Chiron.^[3][2][11] The Late Latin word passed into Old High German and, reshaped by folk etymology, gave German Liebstöckel.^[3][12] It also gave French livèche.^[12][4][3]

In the dialects the name was confused with ligustro “privet”; the Old Italian name rovistico, used for of the dogwood, also leans on Latin rubus (“bramble”).^[12][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date the word to the first half of the 13th century.^[5][13] The TLIO's first records are a Florentine translation of the Antidotarium Nicolai of the late 13th century and a Florentine book of electuary recipes of 1310, where the plant and its seed are drug ingredients.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian medicine the word named the plant and its seed, which was used as a diuretic.^[2] The Old Italian Crescenzi calls levistico hot and dry in the second degree and says its seed has the same name and is diuretic.^[11][14] A translation of Peter of Spain notes that the plant bears its seed in clusters like fennel and is also called libistico or ligustico.^[11]

Botany later took Levisticum as the name of the genus, and modern dictionaries describe the plant, also called sedano di montagna or appio montano, as an aromatic herb that smells of celery.^[5][13][7]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – The word is first recorded.^[5][13]
• Late 13th century – A Florentine Antidotarium Nicolai names the plant.^[2]
• 1310 – A Florentine recipe book uses it for electuaries.^[2]
• 1300s – The form libistico appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) lovage (Levisticum officinale), a tall umbelliferous herb with yellowish flowers that smells of celery, used for flavouring and in folk medicine as a diuretic: Nell'orto coltiva anche un po' di levistico per i brodi.^{[5][13][8][1]}
2. (botany) Any plant of the genus Levisticum; with a capital, the genus itself.^[5]

Related words

• ligustico
• Latin ligusticus

Usage notes

Other names of the plant are sedano di montagna, sedano di monte and appio montano.^[13][6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2217
4. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 589
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET