Etymologically
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neve

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Pronunciation

Forms

neve f (plural nevi)[1] The archaic form is nieve, still used in rural Tuscany.[2][3][4] Old and dialect texts also have nive and gneve.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nix (“snow”), from the accusative nivem.[6][7][8][1] The same word is Old French noif (modern French neige, from the verb neiger), Occitan neu, Catalan neu, Spanish nieve, Portuguese neve, Sardinian nie and Romanian nea.[7][9] The DÉRom reconstructs two Proto-Romance forms, one with a short /i/ and one with /e/; the second covers the south-west of the Romance area and overlaps with the first in most of Italy, which explains the old Italian nieve.[10][11]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *sniks and Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”).[1] Its cognates are Ancient Greek νίφα (nípha) (accusative), Old High German snēo, German Schnee, English snow, Lithuanian sniegas, Old Church Slavonic снѣгъ (sněgŭ) and Welsh nyf.[7][12] The Latin verb ninguit (“it snows”) keeps a nasal infix.[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Mazzeo di Ricco, of the early 13th century.[6][8] The Sicilian poem says that crystal, once frozen hard, can have no hope ch'ello potesse neve ritornare, “that it could turn back into snow”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Cavalcanti wrote of bianca neve scender sanza venti, “white snow falling without wind”, and Dante used the word several times.[5][13] From Petrarch, before 1374, it also means whiteness, as of the skin, and Tasso wrote of a bare breast showing its snows.[6][8][11]

The derivatives came over the centuries: nevicare in Boccaccio (1353), nevischio “sleet” before 1444, and nevaio “snowfield” before 1449, in its modern sense from 1892.[6] Nevato, the snowfield at the top of a glacier, is the French névé, spread through mountaineering.[6] In the 20th century drug users' slang adopted neve for cocaine.[8][14]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Mazzeo di Ricco uses neve.[6]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses nevicare “to snow”.[6]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses neve for whiteness.[6]
  • Before 1444 – Nevischio “sleet” is recorded.[6]
  • 1796 – Nivoso, the French republican month, is recorded.[6]
  • 1892 – Carducci uses nevaio in its modern sense.[6]
  • 1919 – Nevato is recorded, after French névé.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. snow, the ice crystals that fall from the clouds in white flakes: Stanotte è caduto mezzo metro di neve.[8][2][11]
  2. Snow lying on the ground: Abbiamo spalato la neve davanti al garage.[8][11][4]
  3. (literary, figurative) whiteness, as of the skin or of white hair: la neve dei capelli.[8][11][15]
  4. (slang) cocaine.[8][11][15]
  5. (television) In effetto neve, interference that shows on the screen as white and black dots.[8][11][4]

Word family

  • bucaneve
  • nevaio
  • neviera
  • nevischio
  • nevato
  • nevicare
  • nevicata
  • nevometro
  • nevosità
  • nevoso
  • nevata
  • nivale
  • nivazione
  • niveo
  • innevare

Usage notes

Set phrases include bianco come la neve “snow-white”, nevi perenni “perpetual snows”, neve carbonica “dry ice” and montare a neve “to whip (egg whites) stiff”.[8][15][4] A proverb says sott'acqua fame e sotto neve pane: a rainy winter is bad for the wheat, a snowy one good.[4] In Piedmont the usual word for snow is fiòca, from the verb fioccare.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 696
  4. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ 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. 11, 410
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
  15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2581