rivo

Forms

rivo m (plural rivi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rīvus (“stream, brook”).^[2][3][4][1] Sabatini–Coletti and Zingarelli call it a learned word, beside rio, the popular outcome of the same Latin noun.^[5][6][1] DELI and Nocentini explain that the Latin noun was reduced in late speech to rius, a form the Appendix Probi (5th century) condemns as incorrect.^[2][3] This reduced form gave the popular word and, through derivatives, rigagnolo and ruscello.^[2][3] The reduced form also lies behind Old French ri, Old Occitan riu, Catalan riu, Spanish río, Portuguese rio and Sardinian riu.^[7]

In medieval Latin documents from Italy DEI and Prati find the forms Medieval Latin rido and rito, with a consonant inserted to avoid the hiatus, and a charter of 1050 from Amandola near Ascoli has rigum.^[8][9] Tuscan place names keep a form rigo.^[8][9]

Latin rīvus goes back to Proto-Italic *rīwos (“stream”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃riH-wó-s (“whirling”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to stream, churn”).^[10][1] Nocentini compares Old Irish ríathor (“torrent”), and de Vaan compares Old English rīð (“stream, brook”) and Old High German rinnan (“to drip”).^[3][10] De Vaan reads ⟨riuois⟩ in the Duenos inscription as “with streams”, which would show that the long ⟨ī⟩ was original.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Bono Giamboni, before 1292, in the sense of a liquid of any kind that flows; the sense “short, small watercourse” follows in Dante, before 1321.^[2] Dante's Vita nuova has uno rivo chiaro molto, “a very clear stream”, beside a road.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word named a stream or small river, often a torrent feeding a larger one, and Fra Giordano uses it beside fonte for the water that comes from a spring.^[11] Petrarch has lucidi freschi rivi e snelli, and Tommaseo already describes the word as one used for flowing water in general.^[12][13]

From the stream the word passed to any liquid that flows in quantity: rivers of blood, tears, lava or wine, often in hyperbole, and figuratively to a great abundance, as in rivi d'inchiostro, “rivers of ink” spent on a controversy.^[4][13][14] Today it is a literary word.^[14][5][13]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses rivo for a flowing liquid.^[2]
• Before 1311 – Date of first record in GRADIT and Nocentini.^[4][3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses rivo for a small stream.^[2][11]
• c. 1350 – The diminutive rivolo appears in the Italian Crescenzi.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A small stream or brook; a ruscello: Lungo il sentiero scorreva un rivo limpido.^{[4][14][5][15]}
2. (literary, by extension) A copious flow of water or of another liquid, often in hyperbole: un rivo di vino.^[4][14][13]
3. (figurative) A great quantity: Sull'argomento si sono versati rivi d'inchiostro.^[4][14][13]

Word family

• rivolo

Related words

• rio
• ruscello
• rigagnolo
• Latin rīvus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3269
9. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 845
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e 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 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
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana