Etymologically
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litigare

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Pronunciation

  • /li.tiˈɡa.re/[1]

Forms

litigare (first-person singular present lìtigo, first-person singular past historic litigài, past participle litigàto, auxiliary avére)[1] The Tuscan form is leticare, and liticare is less common.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin lītigāre (“to quarrel; to go to law”), a legal term formed from līs (“lawsuit; dispute”).[5][2][6] The Latin verb is formed like iurgō (“to quarrel”) from iūs (“law”) and rēmigō (“to row”), which Devoto explains as old compounds with agō (“to drive, do”).[7][8] The inherited outcomes of the verb are Spanish lidiar and Portuguese lidar.[2][9][1]

The Tuscan leticare has a hypercorrect /k/, as if the /g/ were a northern softening of /k/, the way faticare stands beside northern forms.[2][4] Old Latin had stlīs (“lawsuit”) beside the usual form, and de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *slīti- (“accusation, dispute”), perhaps from a root Proto-Indo-European *sliH- shared with Celtic words for accusing.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Brunetto Latini, before 1294, in the sense “to be party to a lawsuit”;[5][6][11] Zingarelli gives 1268.[5][6][11] The sense “to quarrel with harsh words” is in Dante's Convivio (1304–1308).[5]

Semantic evolution

Domenico Cavalca's advice not to quarrel with a quarrelsome man is echoed in Tuscan proverbs such as il diavolo non litiga mai solo, “the devil never quarrels alone”.[12][13] Litigante, “party to a dispute”, is in the 14th-century Ottimo commentary on Dante, litigio in Dante, and litigioso in the first half of the 14th century.[5][2]

The reflexive litigarsi qualcosa, “to fight over something”, is recorded by Tommaseo in 1869, and Belli's Roman liticasse dates from 1833.[5] Manzoni used the verb jokingly for fingers fumbling with buttons.[3] The noun litigata, “a quarrel”, is from 1932.[2] In modern Italian litigare is the everyday word for quarrelling and also for falling out and ending a friendship or a relationship, while the legal sense has become uncommon.[6][3][4]

Timeline

  • 1268 – Zingarelli's date for the verb.[11]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses litigare “to go to law”.[5][6]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “to quarrel”.[5]
  • 14th century – Litigante is recorded in the Ottimo commentary.[5]
  • 1833 – Belli has Roman liticasse “to fight over”.[5]
  • 1869 – Tommaseo records litigarsi “to dispute something”.[5]
  • 1932 – Litigata is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To quarrel, argue violently, often with insults: I due fratelli litigano per ogni sciocchezza.[6][3][4]
  2. To fall out, break off a friendship or relationship: Hanno litigato e non si parlano da mesi.[6][3][11]
  3. (law, uncommon) To be in litigation: Litigano da anni per la casa dei nonni.[6][3][4]
  4. (transitive, also litigarsi) To compete for, fight over something: litigarsi l'ultimo posto libero.[3][4][14]
  5. (figurative, jocular) To fumble clumsily with something.[3]

Word family

  • litigante
  • litigata
  • litigio
  • litigioso
  • litighino
  • litigone

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2251
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  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 d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana