lombo

Forms

lombo m (plural lombi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lŭmbus (“loin”).^[2][3][4][1] The GDLI calls it a learned word.^[5] The same word is Occitan lomb, Catalan llom, Spanish lomo and Portuguese lombo, and Logudorese has lumbu.^[3][6][7] Meyer-Lübke traced Neapolitan and Abruzzese luffe “loin” to an Oscan form of the word.^[6]

The Latin word is compared with Old High German lentī (“loin”), the ancestor of German Lende.^[3][8] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *londʰ-u-o-, from a root Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“to enter, penetrate”), with лѧдвиѩ (lędviję, “loins”) and Old English lendenu (“loins”) as cognates; he explains the /b/ by a change of /dw/ to /b/, as at the start of a word.^[9][1] Sihler suggests instead that the word was taken from Osco-Umbrian, and a loan from Germanic has also been proposed.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for the back part of the abdomen between the twelfth rib and the hip bone.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the Italian Bible uses the word for the flank, as a veiled word for the male sexual organ, and ironically for a family or lineage;^[2] Church Latin had in lumbis patris esse, “to be in one's father's loins”, not yet born.^[2] Franco Sacchetti, before 1400, uses it for a cut of meat: a pan with un lombo e una arista sent to the oven.^[2][10] Parini's Il Mattino addresses a young lord descended di magnanimi lombi, from great-hearted loins, a phrase De Sanctis later turned to irony.^[10][5]

The derivatives came later: lombaggine (lumbago) is in Oudin in 1663, lombata in Magalotti in 1681, and lombosacrale in 1957.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses lombo for the lower back.^[2]
• 1300s – The Italian Bible uses it for the flank and for lineage.^[2]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for a cut of meat.^[2]
• 1663 – Oudin records lombagine.^[2]
• 1681 – Magalotti uses lombata.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) loin: each of the two muscular bands on either side of the spine at the level of the kidneys.^{[4][11][12][13]}
2. In the plural, the lower back, the hips: avere buoni lombi, to be sturdy.^{[4][11][13][14]}
3. (literary) In the plural, the reproductive organs; hence lineage, descent.^{[4][11][15][12]}
4. (butchery) The loin of a slaughtered animal, the same as lombata.^{[4][11][15][13]}

Word family

• lombare
• lombaggine
• lombata
• lombosacrale
• lombalgia
• dilombarsi
• slombare
• lombo-

Related words

• lonza
• Latin lumbus

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse