libbra

Forms

libbra f (plural libbre)^[1] The form Old Italian libra is the older one and is still found beside libbra.^[2][3][4] Old Italian livra “medieval money unit” comes from French livre.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lībra (“pair of scales; pound”), whose general sense was “instrument for weighing”, from which came the senses “balance”, “unit of weight” and “unit of money”.^[5][2][6] The doubled ⟨bb⟩ is the Tuscan strengthening of Latin /br/ after the stress.^[4][7] Zingarelli calls the word learned.^[8]

The same word is French livre, Occitan liura and Catalan lliura.^[5] Italian libra and lira go back to the same Latin word.^[5]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[5][9] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *leiþra- (“pound”) and thinks the Sicilian Greek coin name Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra) was borrowed from an Italic language at the stage with ⟨*-θr-⟩; a PIE suffix ⟨*-dʰro-⟩ is possible in theory, but no root has been found, and a coin name may well be a loanword.^[10] Nocentini also sees in the likeness to the Greek word a loan of unknown source, as often with names of measures.^[5] DELI calls it a word taken from an unknown pre-Indo-European language, DEI derives Latin and Greek from a pre-Indo-European base ⟨*lithra⟩, and Devoto from a base ⟨*lidhra⟩ that need not be Indo-European.^[2][11][7] Weiss, cited by Wiktionary, derives it from Proto-Indo-European *leyH- (“to pour”) with the suffix *-dʰrom, the pound first being “a pouring of metal”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guittone, before 1294, is the first to use the word, as libra, for the old unit of weight;^[2][6] Medieval Latin documents of 1255 and 1272 already have it.^[2][6] The form libbra appears in G. Villani, before 1348.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The pound was a weight of twelve ounces.^[11][12] In Florence the word also served for the money of account: Villani tells how silver rose to libbre 12 e soldi 15 a pound.^[12] From the money the word passed to the tax levied on the estimo, the assessment of property, which was expressed in pounds, and by metonymy to the register itself;^[13][6][12] Ricordano Malispini writes that the Ghibellines burdened the people di libbre e d'imposte.^[13][6][12] DEI also records the old senses “balance” (16th century) and “estate” (18th century).^[11]

After the metric system the word lived on in regional use for about a third of a kilo, and in proverbs such as il male viene a libbre e va via a once, illness comes by the pound and leaves by the ounce.^[13][14] Since 1934 it has also named the English pound of about 454 grams.^[2][6] German took Libra for the Italian weight in 1470.^[15]

Timeline

• 1255 – Medieval Latin records of the word in Italy.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses libra.^[2][6]
• Before 1348 – G. Villani uses the form libbra.^[2]
• 1470 – German Libra for the Italian weight is recorded.^[15]
• 1934 – The Enciclopedia italiana uses it for the English pound.^[2]
• 1968 – The pound stops being the basic unit of weight in Great Britain in March.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A pound, an old unit of weight used with different values in many countries; in Italy about a third of a kilo: Comprò due libbre di farina al mercato.^[6][3][13]
2. The English and American pound, about 454 grams (symbol lb).^[6][4][8]
3. (obsolete) The lira as a unit of money.^[6][3][14]
4. (historical) A tax levied on the property assessment (estimo); also the assessment register.^[6][13]

Word family

• libbretta

Related words

• libra
• lira
• librale
• French livre

Usage notes

A libbre means “in large amounts”, and di libbra once meant “weighing a pound, heavy, big”, as in Manzoni's sassate di libbra.^[13] The phrase mela da libbra is a variety of apple.^[6]

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 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 Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2220
12. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it