Etymologically
Log in

sollevare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /sol.leˈva.re/[1]

Forms

sollevare (first-person singular present sollèvo, first-person singular past historic sollevài, past participle sollevàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms include solevare, sulevare and sullevare, with an old present sollievo.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sublevō (“to lift up; to relieve”), made of sub- (“under, from below”) and levō (“to lift”).[3][4][5][1] Meyer-Lübke records the verb only in Italian and in Menorcan sobllevar “to anger”;[6][7][4] Old French souzlever and modern French soulever were remade with another prefix.[6][7][4]

Latin levō is formed from levis (“light in weight”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *h₁legʷʰ-u- (“light”).[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Dante, in 1300–1313, for “to lift up, raise to a higher position”: La bocca sollevò dal fiero pasto / quel peccator “that sinner raised his mouth from the savage meal”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates the main senses one by one: “to raise, exalt” in Domenico Cavalca before 1342, “to stir up to revolt” in Ser Giovanni in the second half of the 14th century, the reflexive “to rise” in Petrarch before 1374, “to raise a question” in Cerretani before 1524, and “to free from a burden” in Marin Sanudo before 1536.[3] The reflexive “to rebel” is in Guicciardini before 1540, and a terra sollevata in arme, a town risen in arms, is found at the end of the 15th century; the reflexive “to feel relief” is in Cecchi in 1550–1551.[3] English borrowed the political sense as sollevate before 1734, a rare word.[9]

Among the derivatives, sollevazione “uprising” is in Guicciardini, and sollievo “relief” dates from the 17th century.[7][4] Sollevamento pesi, weightlifting, recorded from 1896, is modelled on English weight-lifting.[3]

Timeline

  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses sollevare for “to lift up”.[3]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for “to raise, exalt”.[3]
  • Second half of the 14th century – Ser Giovanni uses it for “to incite to revolt”.[3]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses the reflexive sollevarsi “to rise”.[3]
  • Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses sollevarsi for “to rebel”.[3]
  • Before 1734 – English sollevate is recorded.[9]
  • 1896 – Sollevamento dei pesi “weightlifting” appears in the Corriere della Sera.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lift, raise, move to a higher position: Sollevò la valigia e la mise sul portapacchi.[5][10][11][12][1]
  2. To raise slightly; to turn upwards: sollevare lo sguardo.[5][10][12]
  3. To raise dust or the like: Le macchine sollevavano nuvole di polvere.[5][11][12]
  4. (figurative) To raise someone from poverty or distress, to help: sollevare qualcuno dalla miseria.[5][10][12]
  5. (figurative) To relieve someone of a burden or task; euphemistically, to remove from office: sollevare qualcuno dall'incarico.[5][10][12]
  6. To comfort, cheer: La telefonata della figlia lo sollevò molto.[11][12][1]
  7. To stir up to revolt: sollevare il popolo contro il governo.[11][12][13]
  8. To raise a question or provoke a reaction: La proposta sollevò molte critiche.[11][3]
  9. (literary) To raise to a high rank; to exalt: sollevare qualcuno ai più alti gradi.[5][13]

Word family

  • sollievo
  • sollevamento
  • sollevazione
  • sollevatore
  • sollevabile
  • sollevato
  • risollevare

Usage notes

The reflexive sollevarsi means to rise, to recover one's spirits, or to rebel: La città si sollevò contro gli invasori.[3][11][12] A common phrase is sollevare un polverone, to stir up a fuss.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3538
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  10. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana