losco

Forms

losco (feminine losca, masculine plural loschi, feminine plural losche)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin luscus (“blind in one eye”), a popular word.^[2][3][4][1] Its Latin derivatives and its Romance outcomes show that it also meant “short-sighted”, “squinting” and “seeing badly in the evening”.^[2][3] Sabatini–Coletti calls this the popular form beside the learned lusco.^[5]

The same word is French louche (“cross-eyed; shady”), Old French lois and losche, Occitan losc, Catalan llosc, Spanish lusco, Portuguese lusco and Sardinian luscu.^[3][6][7][8] Meyer-Lübke found the sense “short-sighted” in central and northern Italy, Sardinia, southern France, Catalonia and Spain, and “squinting” in Italy, France, Catalonia and Portugal.^[6]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown to DELI and uncertain to DEI.^[2][7][9] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *luk-sko- and finds most attractive Fruyt's derivation from Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light”), with Celtic verbs and nouns for seeing and the eye.^[10][1] The OLD instead suggests an original form with ⟨n⟩, compare nuscitiōsus beside luscitiōsus (“night-blind”), changed under the influence of lūx (“light”).^[11][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Bonvesin da la Riva, before 1315, in the sense of someone who looks askance out of resentment, anger or annoyance.^[2] The Battaglia dictionary quotes Bonvesin listing ailments of the sinner.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word still meant a defect of sight: Boccaccio uses it for “short-sighted”, and the Ottimo commentary for “cross-eyed”.^[13] A proverb in Boccaccio and Sacchetti says Chi ha a far con Tosco, non vuole esser losco (“whoever deals with a Tuscan must not be short-sighted”), the Tuscans being thought shrewd.^[14]

Nocentini explains the modern sense through the squinting, sullen look: from “looking askance” came “equivocal, of doubtful honesty”, as happens with words for defects of sight.^[3] The sources date this sense differently.^[2][7] DELI records it in Petrarch in 1374, while DEI puts the figurative sense in the 19th century and calls it a calque on French.^[2][15] Wiktionary notes that French louche went through the same shift.^[1] Today the adjective is used mostly of people and dealings that arouse suspicion, and the sense of poor sight is uncommon.^[4][16][5]

Timeline

• Before 1315 – Bonvesin da la Riva uses losco of a sullen look.^[2]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses it figuratively, of doubtful morals.^[2]
• 19th century – DEI dates the figurative sense “shady” and the noun loschezza.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (uncommon) short-sighted, squinting: of someone who narrows the eyes to see better because of poor sight.^{[4][16][5][9][1]}
2. Of a look, sullen, grim, askance: Mi guardò con aria losca.^[4][16][17]
3. (figurative) shady, of doubtful honesty: Al bar si vedevano facce losche.^{[4][16][5][1]}

Noun

1. (singular only) Something shady or dishonest: c'è del losco, there is something fishy.^[4][5][17]

Adverb

1. Askance, grimly: guardare losco.^[4][5][17]

Word family

• loscamente
• loschezza

Related words

• lusco
• French louche

Usage notes

The form lusco is archaic or literary.^[16][18][19]

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 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 d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 225
13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 602
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2271
16. ^ 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
17. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
19. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli