logorare

Forms

logorare (first-person singular present lógoro, first-person singular past historic logorài, past participle logoràto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The old form lograre is recorded at Orvieto in 1348 and survives into the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin lucrāre (“to gain”), from Latin lucrārī (“to gain, profit”), a verb formed from lucrum (“gain, profit”).^[4][1][5][6] It is a popular word, with an inserted vowel ⟨o⟩ and the northern voicing of /k/ between vowels to /g/;^[5][7] the DEI places its origin in the north, citing Romagnol logrè, and compares locrare of Lucca.^[8] The learned lucrare is its doublet.^[1]

The meaning moved from “gain” to “use up to the last, in order to save”.^[2][6][9] DELI quotes Antonino Schiaffini on how the Romance languages show the Latin verb emptied of its first sense, citing the Reichenau gloss of the 8th century that explains ⟨lucretur⟩ as “may acquire”.^[2] Elsewhere the verb gave Spanish lograr and Portuguese lograr “to obtain” and Romanian lucra “to work”.^[4][10]

Older explanations were different: Zaccaria derived the verb from the falconer's logoro “lure”, reasoning that what lures consumes, and reported Muratori's derivation from Latin lurcārī (“to eat greedily”), which he rejected on grounds of form and sense.^[11] The adjective of the same spelling, “worn out”, is a shortened past participle of the verb.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Guido da Pisa, before 1337, with the sense “to spoil, waste”, and Boccaccio has the adjective logoro “worn” in 1341–1342.^[2] The form lograre is recorded at Orvieto in 1348, and Boccaccio uses logorare in 1348–1353 for consuming something by long use or age.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the verb loosely for “use, consume”: Boccaccio writes of not being able to pay even for the water che noi logoriamo “that we use”, and Giovanni Villani complains that one Florentine parish spends more in taverns than the old Florentines used to logorare in all their cities.^[9][12] Of time it meant to spend it badly.^[12] The DEI also records an old sense “to earn”.^[8] The pronominal logorarsi “to wear out, waste away” appears in the 14th century in the Fiori di filosofi.^[2]

The figurative sense “to exhaust, wear down” became the common one: one wears out one's eyes, nerves or health.^[6][9] The saying il potere logora chi non ce l'ha “power wears out those who don't have it” is a well-known piece of political cynicism.^[13] Logoramento is recorded before 1694 in Paolo Segneri, and with it the guerra di logoramento, the war of attrition;^[2] logorio, continuous wear, appears in 1891.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1337 – Guido da Pisa uses the verb for “to waste, spoil”.^[2]
• 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses the adjective logoro.^[2]
• 1348 – Lograre is recorded at Orvieto.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses logorare for wearing out by use.^[2][6][4]
• 14th century – Logorarsi appears in the Fiori di filosofi.^[2]
• Before 1694 – Paolo Segneri uses logoramento.^[2]
• 1834 – Logorante is recorded.^[4]
• 1891 – Logorio is recorded.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To wear out, wear away slowly through long or rough use: a forza di camminare ha logorato le suole.^{[6][14][5][9]}
2. (transitive, figurative) To exhaust, wear down physically or mentally: quel lavoro notturno lo sta logorando.^[6][14][15]
3. (transitive, obsolete) To use up, consume; to spend or squander.^[15][16][12]
4. logorarsi (pronominal): to wear out, deteriorate, also figuratively; of a person, to wear oneself out: si logorava nell'attesa di notizie.^{[14][5][9][16]}

Word family

• logoro
• logoramento
• logorante
• logorio
• logoratore

Related words

• lucro
• lucrare
• Latin lucrum

Usage notes

A falconry verb logorare (also lodrare), “to train a hawk with the lure” or “to swing the lure”, belongs to logoro “lure”, which is related to French leurre.^[8][17][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2264
9. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
18. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 600