rio

rio¹ brook

Pronunciation

• /ˈri.o/^[1]

Forms

rio m (plural rii)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the brook is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rius, the popular form of Latin rīvus (“small stream, brook”), with an early loss of the ⟨v⟩ between vowels that the Appendix Probi already condemned, setting the correct form against the popular one.^[2][2][3][1] Nocentini dates that list to the 5th century AD, Devoto to the 3rd.^[3][4] The Vulgar Latin form is continued across Romance: Old French ri, Occitan riu, Catalan riu, Spanish río, Portuguese rio, Sardinian riu and Romanian rîu.^[3][5] The form with ⟨v⟩ gave Old Italian rigo.^[5][2] The word is a doublet of rivo.^[1]

The Latin word is from Proto-Italic *rīwos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃riH-wó- “whirling”, from a root meaning “to flow, stream”.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Restoro d'Arezzo (1282) is the first to use rio for a small stream, in a description of carved mountains, valleys and brooks.^[2][7] GRADIT dates it before 1313.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century Francesco da Buti glossed rivo, o rio as a little water that comes from a spring and runs down from the mountains.^[2] Poets from Ariosto to Monti used it for a stream or river.^[7] It survives in some regions for a minor watercourse and in many place names (Riofreddo, Rio Marina).^[9]

In Venice and the other towns of the lagoon a rio is a stretch of the network of urban canals (1872, Tommaseo–Bellini).^[2][9] This Venetian sense passed into English (1817) and French (1922).^[10]

Timeline

• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses rio “brook”.^[2]
• 1300s – Francesco da Buti defines rivo, o rio.^[2]
• 1817 – English borrows rio for a Venetian canal.^[10]
• 1872 – Tommaseo–Bellini records rio for a branch of a canal in the Venetian lagoon.^[2]
• 1922 – French borrows rio for a Venetian canal.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A brook, a small stream: un rio scorreva tra i sassi.^[8][1][9]
2. (Venice) A stretch of urban canal.^[8][1][9]

Word family

• riale

rio² wicked

Etymology tree of rio²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin rēs

French rien

Latin reus

Italian rio

From the same root · rio²

Latin quārē ← rēs

Latin reālis ← rēs

Latin rēspūblica ← rēs

Latin correus ← reus

Pronunciation

• /ˈri.o/^[1]

Forms

rio (feminine ria, masculine plural rii, feminine plural rie)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “wicked” is inherited from Latin reus (“party in a lawsuit; defendant; guilty”), the popular outcome beside the learned reo.^{[2][3][11][1]} In hiatus the Latin word took no diphthong, as Latin meus became mio and deus became dio.^[4] The same word is Romanian rău (“bad”) and Vegliote ri.^[3][5][1]

The Latin word was linked with Latin rēs (“thing; case”) already by the Romans, as “the one whose case is at issue”; de Vaan accepts the connection.^[6][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Giamboni, before 1292, uses rio figuratively for wicked, perverse.^[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Old poets used the adjective for wicked people and peoples, and Dante has la gente ria and la vita ria.^[13][8] In Jacopone and Dante it was also a noun, guilt or sin.^[9][14] Leopardi uses it for adverse fortune, la ria (sorte).^[8] The sense “guilty”, the same as reo, is recorded by Oudin in 1640.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses rio “wicked”.^[2]
• 1640 – Oudin records rio “guilty”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) wicked, cruel: un tiranno rio.^[8][1][9]
2. (literary) Adverse, hostile: la sorte ria.^[8][1]
3. (obsolete) Guilty.^[2][1]

Noun

1. (obsolete, poetic) Guilt, sin.^[8][1][9]

Word family

• riezza