Etymologically
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sole

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Pronunciation

Forms

sole m (plural soli, diminutive (colloquial) solicèllo or (uncommon) solicìno)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sōl (“sun”), from the accusative ⟨sōlem⟩.[2][3][1] The Latin noun survives in Occitan sol, Catalan sol, Spanish sol, Portuguese sol, Sardinian sole and Romanian soare; French soleil and solelh continue the diminutive Vulgar Latin *sōliculus, which Meyer-Lübke explains as a way of keeping the noun apart from sōlus (“alone”) where the two had become alike.[3][4]

The Latin word belongs to the oldest Indo-European vocabulary, though its suffix and inflection vary too much from language to language for one form to be reconstructed: compare Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios), Sanskrit सूर्य (sū́rya), Lithuanian saulė, Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌹𐌻 (sauil) and Old High German sunna.[3] Wiktionary sets up Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥, but the exact shape of the root and the way it became the Latin noun are disputed.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures, about 1224, where the word names the star itself.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the star itself the word passed to its light and warmth (stare al sole, before 1321 in Dante), and in Dante's poetry to the day and even the year: infra tre soli is “within three years”.[2][5] From the early 15th century sole became a symbol of splendour, beauty and power, and Petrarch had already used it for the beloved, whose eyes the poets called soli.[2][5][1] Old forms include sólle and suòle.[6]

Among its derivatives, solare is a learned word taken from Latin sōlāris (1353, Boccaccio), while soleggiare “to put in the sun” (1641) may come from Vulgar Latin *sōliculāre.[2][3] Solleone, the hottest part of summer, is the sun in the sign of Leo.[3][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1224 – Saint Francis uses sole in the Canticle of the Creatures.[2]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “day”.[2]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “sunlight”.[2]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses solare.[2]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for the beloved.[2]
  • 1641 – soleggiare is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (usually capitalized) The Sun, the star around which the Earth and the other planets orbit.[8][9][5]
  2. Any star at the centre of a planetary system.[8][5][10]
  3. The sun as seen from the Earth, rising and setting: Partimmo prima che il sole sorgesse.[8][9]
  4. sunlight, the sun's light and warmth: Il gatto dorme al sole sul balcone.[8][5][11]
  5. A sunny place, a place facing south.[5][8]
  6. (figurative) A symbol of beauty, happiness or power, (literary) the beloved person.[5][2]
  7. (literary) A day, a year.[5][1]
  8. One of the cards of the tarot.[5][12]

Word family

  • solare
  • soleggiare
  • soleggiato
  • solleone
  • assolato
  • controsole
  • insolazione
  • girasole
  • parasole
  • prendisole

Usage notes

Common phrases: alla luce del sole “openly, with nothing hidden”, prendere il sole “to sunbathe”, occhiali da sole “sunglasses” and niente di nuovo sotto il sole “nothing new under the sun”.[8][11][10] DEI has a separate word sòle “sole (the fish)”, a 19th-century borrowing of French sole from hotel menus.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  7. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  8. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3532