lieve

Forms

lieve m or f by sense (plural lievi, superlative lievissimo or levissimo)^[1] Old and literary forms are Old Italian leve and Old Italian lef, recorded in northern texts.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lĕvis (“light”).^[2][4][5][1] The Latin word meant light in both the physical and the moral sense, opposed to gravis (“heavy”), an opposition kept in levitās and gravitās.^[2][6] The short open ⟨e⟩ became ⟨ie⟩ in an open stressed syllable, as is regular in Tuscan.^[7]

The word continues in Old French lief, Occitan leu and Catalan lleu; Spanish leve and Portuguese leve are learned.^[4] It is lacking in Romanian and in the southern Italian dialects, which use a derivative of Latin levius instead.^[8]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *leɣʷis and Proto-Indo-European *h₁léngʰus (“light in weight”).^[1] De Vaan reconstructs a nasalless *h₁legʷʰ-u- and takes the nasal of most other languages to be secondary.^[6] Cognates include Ancient Greek ἐλαχύς (elakhús, “small”), Sanskrit लघु (laghú, “light, quick”) and the English word light.^[6][4][1] The original u-stem adjective was remade as an i-stem in Latin.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form lef in the 12th-century Sermone gallo-italico, with the sense “weighing almost nothing”;^[2] leve follows in the 13th-century Proverbia super natura feminarum.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The form lieve appears in Dante's Commedia (1300–1313), and in the Convivio (1304–1308) Dante also uses it figuratively for what costs no effort or causes no worry.^[2] Old Italian also used it for “quick”, “easy” and “humble, frugal”, and di lieve meant “easily”.^[8][9][10] Dante writes questa ultima parte è lieve a intendere, “this last part is easy to understand”.^[5][11]

Today lieve is less popular than its synonym leggero and more subjective: it describes what makes little of its weight felt, and is used mostly in extended senses, of a minor fault, a slight difference or a faint noise.^[3][5] In law colpa lieve is slight negligence.^[5]

Timeline

• 12th century – Lef appears in the Sermone gallo-italico.^[2]
• 12th century – The noun levità is recorded in the same text.^[2]
• 13th century – Leve appears in the Proverbia super natura feminarum.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses lieve in the Commedia.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it figuratively in the Convivio.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. light, weighing little: un pacco lieve.^[5][12][7]
2. Easy to bear, needing little effort: un compito lieve.^[5][12][7]
3. (figurative) Of little importance or seriousness, slight, minor: una ferita lieve, un lieve ritardo.^[5][12][7]
4. (figurative) Faint, gentle, barely perceptible: un lieve profumo di rose.^[5][12][11]
5. (archaic) Easy to do or understand.^[5][12][11]

Adverb

1. (literary) Lightly, gently, often doubled: lieve lieve.^[5][12][9]

Word family

• lievemente
• lievità
• levezza

Related words

• levità
• alleviare
• leggero
• Latin levis

Usage notes

Ti sia lieve la terra, “may the earth lie light on you”, is a wish for the dead and an epitaph, translating the Latin formula sit tibi terra levis.^[9][3][13] The superlative is lievissimo or levissimo.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2227
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli