olezzare

Forms

olezzare (first-person singular present olézzo, first-person singular past historic olezzài, past participle olezzàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *olidiāre, formed on Latin olidus (“smelling”), itself from oleō (“to give off a smell”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} DELI and the GDLI call it a learned word, with the ⟨-id-⟩ of the stem meeting the verbal suffix ⟨-iare⟩.^[6][7] GRADIT and the GDLI set it beside olidāre, which is recorded in the glosses, and DEI says both arose in the Latin of Italy.^[8][7][9]

The Latin adjective also survives in Old Trevisan uliós “fragrant”.^[10][9] Italian lezzare “to stink”, recorded in the 15th century, is the same word, and lezzo “stench” belongs with it.^[9][11]

The Latin verb had the neutral meaning “to smell, good or bad”, and Nocentini derives it from olor, a variant of odor (“smell”) with /l/ for /d/ that Varro records.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and GRADIT date the first record to 1313–19, in Dante's Purgatorio: l'aura di maggio movesi ed olezza, / tutta impregnata da l'erba e da' fiori (“the May breeze stirs and gives off fragrance, all steeped in grass and flowers”).^[6][8][7] The TLIO dates the Commedia to 1321 and records no other Old Italian example of this sense.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The TLIO also has a single transitive example, for an animal sniffing a smell.^[12] In the 14th century Ser Giovanni has the participle as ulizante and ulezzante.^[6] Meyer-Lübke notes that Old Italian also used the verb for stinking.^[10]

From Tasso, Redi and Leopardi the verb stayed in poetry, mostly of flowers and the air.^[13][14] The noun olezzo “fragrance” is recorded from 1635 (Malvezzi), and the participle olezzante from 1773 (Varano).^[6] In modern use the verb is often ironic or humorous, for a bad smell.^[8][3][15]

Timeline

• 1313–1319 – Dante uses olezza in the Purgatorio.^[6]
• 14th century – Ser Giovanni has ulizante.^[6]
• 1635 – The noun olezzo is recorded.^[6]
• 1773 – Olezzante in its modern form.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, literary) To give off a pleasant smell, of flowers, plants or the air; to be fragrant: Il giardino olezzava di gelsomini.^[8][3][14]
2. (intransitive, ironic or humorous) To stink.^{[8][3][15][1]}

Word family

• olezzo
• olezzante

Related words

• olire
• lezzo
• odore
• Latin oleō

Usage notes

The ⟨zz⟩ is pronounced voiced or voiceless.^[16][1] The verb takes avere.^[3][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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, 864
8. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2638
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 707
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana