liberto
Pronunciation
- /liˈbɛr.to/[1]
Forms
liberto m (plural liberti, feminine liberta)[1] The feminine is liberta, recorded from the 16th century.[2][3]
Etymology
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin lībertus (“freedman”), from līber (“free”).[4][5][6][1] DEI suggests the Latin word was formed on lībertās (“freedom”), and Devoto explains it as a cross between that noun and līberātus (“freed”).[2][7] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic *louðertos and Proto-Indo-European *h₁léwdʰeros, from the root *h₁lewdʰ- (“to grow; people”).[1] The same word is Spanish liberto and Catalan llibert (“free”).[5][2][8]
The Latin derivative lībertīnus first meant “of a freedman; son of a freedman”, the source of libertino.[4][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
The TLIO records the word in an Old Italian version of Albertano (1275, Florence), in a reconstructed form, and in Bono Giamboni's translation of Orosius, before 1292, always of a freed slave in ancient Rome.[9][4] Giamboni writes of Menas, a freedman of Pompey, who fled to Caesar with sixty ships.[10]
Semantic evolution
The word has kept its single historical sense.[9][6] Boccaccio explained that libertini were the sons of a slave set free by his master and that the freed slaves themselves were called liberti.[10] The Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary also records an extended use for freed black slaves or their children.[11]
The derivative libertino took a different path: from the 16th century French libertin was used of an anti-Calvinist movement named after the Libertines of the Acts of the Apostles, and, from it Italian took the sense “dissolute”, recorded in 1684; libertinaggio (1685) follows French libertinage.[4][5]
Timeline
- 1275 – A reconstructed form appears in an Old Italian version of Albertano.[9]
- Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it in his translation of Orosius.[4][9]
- Before 1342 – Cavalca uses libertino in the sense “freedman”.[4]
- 16th century – The feminine liberta is recorded.[2]
- 1684 – Libertino “dissolute” is recorded.[4]
Meanings
Noun
- (history) A freedman: in ancient Rome, a slave who had been set free, who kept limited legal rights and duties of respect and service toward his former master: Molti liberti divennero ricchi mercanti.[6][3][12]
Word family
- libertino
- libertinaggio
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2222
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
- ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
- ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
- ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse