velo

Forms

velo m (plural veli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vēlum (“sail; cloth, curtain”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word meant both “sail” and “curtain, veil”;^[5][2][3][6] Meyer-Lübke separates the two, with Italian vela from the plural ⟨vēla⟩ “sails” and this word from the singular “curtain”, and DELI too finds it unclear whether the two are one word.^[5][2][3][6] The same word is French voile (masculine), Occitan vel, Catalan vel, Spanish velo, Old Portuguese veo, Friulian vel and Logudorese belu; it is pan-Romance except for Romanian, and was borrowed into Insular Celtic.^[3][5][7]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *wekslom, as the diminutive vexillum (“standard, banner”) shows.^[6][3][1] The root is either Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave”), seen in Old Irish figid (“weaves”) and Old English wice (“wick”), or, less likely in sense, Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to convey”);^[6][3][1][8] Peruzzi argued that a second preform meaning “sail, cloth”, from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to clothe”), merged with it, and Devoto too set the word in the family of vestis (“garment”).^[6][3][1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante's Vita nuova (1294) has the first record: in an imagined vision the women cover the dead lady d'un velo, with a veil.^[2][9] The Enciclopedia dantesca notes that Dante uses the word once in prose and often in verse, mostly in rhyme as velo and inside the line as vel.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Commedia Dante already uses velo figuratively for whatever covers or hides something, and for a thin layer of ice; the reflexive velarsi meant “to take the veil, become a nun” before 1321.^[2][7] Boccaccio has the nun's veil, and Petrarch calls the body il mio bel velo.^[7][4]

The fabric itself is recorded only from 1568, and the sense “thin layer” from Cellini (before 1571).^[2] Later senses are anatomical, the soft palate or velo palatino (1829), botanical, the membrane of young mushrooms (1906), and photographic, the fog on a negative.^[2][4] From velo palatino comes the phonetic adjective velare (1897).^[2][3] An English vele of 1580 shows the Italian, Spanish and Latin word crossed with veil, and German had Velo “gauze” in 1879.^[10]

Timeline

• 1294 – Dante's Vita nuova has the first record.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses velo figuratively for what covers or hides.^[2]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses velo in rhyme for “sail”.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses velarsi “to take the veil”.^[2]
• 1568 – Bartoli uses velo for the fine fabric.^[2]
• Before 1571 – Cellini uses it for a very thin layer.^[2]
• 1580 – English vele is recorded.^[10]
• 1829 – The anatomical sense is recorded.^[2]
• 1879 – German Velo is recorded.^[10]
• 1906 – The botanical sense is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fine, light, transparent fabric of silk, cotton or other fibre: un abito di velo.^[4][11][12]
2. A veil: a piece of such cloth with which women cover the head or face; the bridal veil; the veil worn by nuns: prendere il velo, to become a nun.^[4][11][12]
3. (Christianity) A cloth covering sacred objects: velo del calice, velo omerale.^[4][11][12]
4. The cloth of a sieve.^[4][2]
5. A very thin layer covering something: un velo di polvere;^[4][13][14] zucchero a velo, icing sugar.^[4][13][14]
6. Something that blurs the sight; figuratively, a faint trace of a feeling: un velo di rimpianto.^[4][13]
7. (figurative) What hides the truth; a deceptive appearance: il velo dell'oblio.^[4][13][12]
8. (literary) The human body, as the covering of the soul.^[4]
9. (anatomy) A membranous structure;^[4][13][1] velo palatino or velo del palato, the soft palate, the velum.^[4][13][1]
10. (botany) The membrane that encloses young mushrooms and other plant parts.^[13][2]
11. (photography) fog, a uniform darkening of a sensitive emulsion.^[4]

Word family

• velare
• velato
• velatura
• veletta
• svelare

Related words

• vela
• velame
• velario
• rivelare
• vessillo
• Latin vēlum

Usage notes

Stendere un velo pietoso is to draw a veil over something embarrassing, and senza veli means naked or, figuratively, frankly.^[4][11][14] An old literary velo meant “sail”, an alternative form of vela from the same Latin word, used by Dante and Boccaccio.^[11][15][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4006
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)