Etymologically
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vivo

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Pronunciation

Forms

vivo (feminine viva, masculine plural vivi, feminine plural vive, superlative vivissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vīvus (“alive, living”), related to vīvō (“to live”).[2][3][4][1][5] The adjective is found throughout Romance: French vif, Occitan viu, Catalan viu, Spanish vivo, Portuguese vivo, Sardinian biu, Romanian viu and Dalmatian vei.[3][5]

The Latin adjective goes back through Proto-Italic *gʷīwos to Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), from the root *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”).[1] Nocentini notes that the formation is inherited from Indo-European, as the matching forms in other branches show: Sanskrit जीव (jīvá), Lithuanian gyvas, Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌿𐍃 (qius) and, from the same root, Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”).[3][6][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the adjective “living, alive” is the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, and GRADIT and Nocentini date it to 1294.[2][4][3] The GDLI's early quotations include Guido delle Colonne and Dante's Capaneus: “Qual io fui vivo, tal son morto” (What I was alive, such am I dead).[8]

Semantic evolution

From “alive” the adjective soon spread to things that seem to have life: Old Italian already spoke of fuoco vivo, carbone vivo, pietra viva (Boccaccio) and calcina viva (Crescenzi), and of acqua viva and argento vivo.[7][9] Dante uses it for intensity (before 1321), Giovanni Villani for “active, busy” (before 1348), and Machiavelli for what recalls the movement and spontaneity of living things (1514–1520).[2] Varchi (before 1565) applied it to languages still in use: “Delle lingue alcune sono vive, e alcune sono non vive” (Of languages some are living and some are not).[2] The sense “lively” appears in Grazzini in 1550, and “strong”, of feelings, in Segneri in 1673.[2]

As a noun it meant a living person in Dante (1313–1319), and about 1350 the quick, the sensitive living part of the body, a sense kept in pungere sul vivo “to cut to the quick”.[2][4] In music vivo “lively” is recorded in 1706, and it passed into German (1728) and English (18th century), while French translated it with vif.[10]

Timeline

  • 1294 – Vivo is first recorded.[4][3]
  • 1313–1319 – Dante uses i vivi, “the living”.[2]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “active, busy”.[2]
  • About 1350 – The noun “quick, living flesh” appears in a translation of Crescenzi.[2]
  • 1550 – Grazzini uses it for “lively”.[2]
  • Before 1565 – Varchi speaks of living languages, lingue vive.[2]
  • 1706 – Vivo is recorded as a musical direction.[10]
  • 1728 – German takes over the musical term.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. alive, living: Il gatto è rimasto vivo per miracolo.[4][11][12][1]
  2. (biology) Having vital functions: tessuto vivo.[4][12]
  3. Still current or in use: lingua viva, a language spoken today.[4][11][13]
  4. Lasting, clear in the memory: Il ricordo di quella estate è ancora vivo.[4][11][12]
  5. Full of life, lively; quick-witted: Ha uno spirito vivo e curioso..[4][12][1]
  6. Of colour or light: bright, vivid: rosso vivo.[12][14][1]
  7. Of feelings: strong, deep: Vi ringraziamo con viva gratitudine.[12][13]
  8. Of a discussion: heated, animated.[4][13]
  9. (music) Lively, brisk, as a direction.[10]

Noun

  1. A living person; usually plural, i vivi, the living.[2][1][12]
  2. The living, sensitive part of something, the quick; the heart of a matter: entrare nel vivo of a discussion.[2][4]

Word family

  • vivezza
  • vivamente
  • avvivare
  • ravvivare
  • vivificare
  • viviparo
  • vivisezione
  • semivivo

Usage notes

Common phrases include vivo e vegeto, alive and well, farsi vivo, to get in touch, non c'era anima viva, there was nobody, and dal vivo, live, from life.[4][11][13] Mangiarsi vivo qualcuno means to tear someone to pieces, to scold or overpower them.[11][14]

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 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 g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4077
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 953
  9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1059
  10. ^ a b c d 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 e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana