luce

Forms

luce f (plural luci)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian luche, Old Italian luxe and Old Italian luxi.^[2] The word is Venetian łuxe, Ligurian luxe, Lombard lus and Friulian lûs.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lux (“light; daylight, day”), from the accusative ⟨lūcem⟩.^[3][4][5][1] The GDLI calls it a learned word, but DELI, Nocentini and Wiktionary treat it as inherited.^[2][3][4][1] The same Latin word is Occitan lutz, Old French luz, Spanish luz and Portuguese luz.^[4][6] DEI notes that it is missing in Romanian, Sardinian and French, which use other words.^[7] Wiktionary regards the borrowed lux as its doublet.^[1]

The Latin noun is a root noun from Proto-Italic *louks and Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright, to shine”).^[8][1] From the same root come Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white, bright”), Sanskrit रोचते (rocate, “shines”) and the suffixed Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌸 (liuhaþ, “light”), which matches German Licht and light.^[8][4][1] Devoto adds that the Latin lūcus (“sacred grove”) first meant the clearing where rites were held.^[9] Latin lūmen, the source of lume, and lūna belong to the same family.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word to the first half of the 13th century.^[4][5] DELI's first record, for the rays of the sun, is in Maestro Francesco, whose poem compares love to sunlight: “Amor si è come la luce / del sol” (love is like the light of the sun).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses luce for any source of light (1313–1319), and Petrarch for the eyes (1374), a figure that DELI traces back to Latin and finds common in popular poetry too.^[3] In older Italian luce also meant “day”, in the early lyric poets, Ariosto and Varchi.^[10][7] Lamps and artificial lighting were called luci by 1533, when Marino Sanudo describes people “con luzi impizadi in man” (with lights lit in their hands).^[3] In building, luce became the opening of a window (1803) and the span under the arch of a bridge, which Florentine edicts already used.^[3][11]

The physical sense, light as a form of energy, is recorded at the end of the 18th century, and luce elettrica in 1840.^[3] The 20th century added the lights of vehicles (1957), luci d'arresto “brake lights” (1970), and luce for the electricity supply itself.^[3] Phrases such as dare alla luce “to give birth” and venire alla luce “to be born; to come to light” keep the old link between light and life.^[12][13] The diminutive lucciola “firefly”, recorded before 1313, passed into French as luciole.^[4]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – The first records.^[4][5]
• Before 1313 – Lucciola “firefly” is recorded.^[4]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses luce for a source of light.^[3]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses luci for the eyes.^[3]
• 1533 – Marino Sanudo uses luzi for lamps.^[3]
• 1786–1803 – Luce is used for light as physical energy.^[3]
• 1803 – Luce is recorded for the opening of a window.^[3]
• 1840 – Luce elettrica is recorded in a Milanese paper.^[3]
• Before 1865 – Controluce is recorded.^[4]
• 1957 – Luce is used for electricity and for the lights of vehicles.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physics) light, the electromagnetic radiation that the eye can perceive: la velocità della luce.^[5][14][15]
2. Light as it is seen, brightness, especially daylight: Questa cucina ha poca luce, alla luce del sole, openly.^[5][13][16]
3. A light source, a lamp: In fondo alla valle si vedeva una luce.^[5][13]
4. Artificial lighting, and by extension the electricity supply: Spegni la luce quando esci, Domenica è mancata la luce per due ore.^[5][14][13]
5. (automotive) A light of a vehicle: luci di posizione, sidelights, luci d'arresto, brake lights.^[3][12]
6. brilliance, sparkle, as of a gem or of the eyes: Aveva una luce strana negli occhi.^[5][12]
7. (figurative) Life: dare alla luce, to give birth, venire alla luce, to be born, or to come to light.^[13][12][14]
8. (figurative) Knowledge, truth, enlightenment: fare luce su un mistero, alla luce di, in the light of.^[13][5][15]
9. (architecture) An opening in a wall that lets light in; the clear span of an arch or bridge.^[1][11][5]
10. (literary) le luci: the eyes.^[3][17]

Word family

• lucciola
• controluce
• sopraluce
• semiluce

Related words

• lucere
• lucerna
• lucido
• lume
• luna
• lux

Usage notes

Luce in film Luce and giornale Luce is the acronym of the Unione Cinematografica Educativa, the film institute founded in 1925 whose newsreels were shown in Italian cinemas.^[14][5][16] Common phrases include mettere in luce “to highlight”, mettere in buona or cattiva luce “to show in a good or bad light” and anno luce “light year”.^[1][5][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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, 240
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2275
8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 604
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)