neo

Forms

neo m (plural nei)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin neus, a form of the glossaries, from classical Latin naevus (“mole, birthmark”).^[2][3][4][5] The same word is Sardinian neu, and Romanian neg (“wart”) probably belongs here too, though its /ɡ/ is hard to explain.^[2][5] The Sienese variant niego has been explained by a blend with niger (“black”).^[6][3]

The origin of naevus is uncertain.^[7][8] Devoto compares only its shape with laevus (“left”) and scaevus (“left”).^[9] The OLD equates it with the older form gnaevus and compares the praenomen Gnaeus.^[10] Wiktionary takes gnaevus from Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁iwós (“native”), from *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[1] nevo is the learned doublet, used in medicine.^[11][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to the end of the 13th century.^[2] DELI's first record is Boccaccio's Decameron (1353), where Zinevra has “under her left breast a fairly large mole, round which are perhaps six little hairs as blond as gold”.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also had the forms niego and nievolo.^[12] The figurative sense, a small flaw barely to be seen, is recorded before 1566 in A. Caro.^[7] In the 18th century the neo finto, a small round patch of black velvet or a painted dot, was worn on the face by ladies to set off the whiteness of the skin;^[3][8][13] G. Gozzi mentions it.^[3][8][13] In many dialects the mole is confused with the voglia, the birthmark.^[3]

Timeline

• End of the 13th century – Nocentini's date for the first record.^[2]
• 1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron uses neo.^[7][4]
• Before 1566 – A. Caro uses neo for a small defect.^[7]
• 18th century – G. Gozzi writes of the neo finto, the beauty spot.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) A mole: a small dark spot on the skin, flat or slightly raised, sometimes hairy.^[8][14][11]
2. A beauty spot: a patch of black velvet or a painted dot that 18th-century ladies put on the face, shoulders or breast.^[8][14][13]
3. (figurative) A slight flaw or imperfection: La traduzione è ottima, salvo qualche neo.^[8][14][11]

Related words

• nevo
• Latin naevus

Usage notes

In medicine the learned form nevo is preferred.^[13][4] A separate neo is a dated variant of neon, the gas, named in 1898;^[8][1][12] Italian neone dates from 1907.^[8][1][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2567
4. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 695
13. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
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