lievito

Forms

lievito m (plural lieviti)^[1] The old and literary form is levito.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *levitum (“yeast, leaven”), a form parallel to Latin levātus (“raised”), the past participle of levō (“to lift, raise”).^[3][4][5][1] Wiktionary explains the ending ⟨-itus⟩ by analogy with participles such as domitus from domō, and Körting compared cubitus.^[1][6] DELI and GRADIT stress its link with levis (“light”), the source of lieve.^[3][7] The same Latin form gave Spanish leudo (“leavened”), Asturian tsieldu and Galician lévedo.^[8][4][6]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁legʷʰ-u- (“light”), related to Ancient Greek ἐλαχύς (elakhús, “small”) and Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (leihts, “light”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the 14th-century Italian translation of Pietro Ispano, with the sense of the micro-organisms that cause fermentation: Poi togli polvere di lievito, pane di crusca (“then take powdered yeast, bran bread”).^[3][2] Zingarelli dates the word from 1268.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The derived verb lievitare, for dough that swells and becomes soft, is recorded in a 14th-century Bible translation.^[3] Burchiello, a prisoner, wrote before 1449 that he rose on the plank like bread (Lievitomi in sull'asse come il pane).^[3]

In 1806 a Milanese paper recorded lievito di birra, brewer's yeast, and lievito artificiale, a chemical raising agent.^[3] The figurative sense of a cause of excitement or unrest is recorded in 1871, and Panzini noted in 1905 that the same extension is common in French, with older Italian examples.^[3] The noun lievitazione followed in 1919 or 1942.^[4][3] In central Italy the plural lieviti names small sweet pastries made with leavened dough.^[11][7]

Timeline

• 1268 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[10]
• 14th century – The Italian Pietro Ispano uses lievito.^[3]
• 14th century – A Bible translation uses lievitare.^[3]
• 1806 – Lievito di birra and lievito artificiale appear in the Milanese press.^[3]
• 1871 – The figurative sense is recorded in G. Baldasseroni.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. yeast, leaven: a substance used in food preparation to cause fermentation, as in bread making.^[7][11][1]
2. (biology) Any of the single-celled fungi of the family Saccharomycetaceae, which reproduce by budding.^[7][10][12]
3. A raising agent in powder, which gives off carbon dioxide and makes dough rise.^[5][12]
4. (figurative) Something that stirs up a feeling or causes ferment and unrest: Il rincaro del pane fu il lievito della sommossa.^[7][11][5]
5. (in the plural, central Italy) Small pastries of leavened dough.^[7][11][13]

Word family

• lievitare
• lievitazione

Related words

• levare
• lieve
• Spanish leudo

Usage notes

Common phrases are lievito di birra, brewer's yeast, lievito madre or lievito naturale, sourdough starter, and lievito in polvere, baking powder.^[11][7][1] An old Tuscan adjective lievito, leavened, is a shortened form of the participle lievitato: Franco Sacchetti contrasts the Greeks' pane lievito in the Eucharist with the Latin unleavened bread.^[2][12][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 63
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET