amore Italian · revision 37686

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1190, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (Genoese)|origins=la amō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aˈmo.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''amore''' ''m'' (countable and uncountable, plural amori)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|amor]], [[m|roa-oit|amuri]] and [[m|roa-oit|ammore]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|amor|t=love]], from the accusative ⟨amorem⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is formed from [[m|la|amō|t=to love]] with the suffix [[m|la|-or]], as [[m|la|clāmor]] is from [[m|la|clāmō]].^(DELI 1999)^(OLD 2012)^(Devoto 1968|31)

+

+ The word is continued in nearly all the Romance languages, but not in Romanian: [[fro|amor]], [[oc|amor]], [[ca|amor]], [[es|amor]] and [[pt|amor]], and Dalmatian [[m|dlm|amáur]].^(LEI|2, 844)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|174) Old French also had ⟨ameur⟩, which early took the sense “rut, heat”;^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010) Meyer-Lübke and Nocentini think the modern French [[m|fr|amour]] spread from Occitan, the language of the troubadours, so that the word for refined love stayed apart from the animal sense.^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010) The noun is feminine in Old French until the 17th century, in Old Catalan and in many Italian dialects.^(LEI|2, 844)^(REW 1935)

+

+ De Vaan traces the Latin verb to [[itc-pro|*ama-|t=to take, hold]], which he connects with [[ine-pro|*h₃mh₃-|t=to take hold of]], the root of [[grc|ὄμνυμι|tr=ómnumi|t=to swear]]: the Latin meaning would have gone from “to take someone's hand” to “to regard as a friend”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the ''Contrasto'' of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, about 1190, where a Genoese woman speaks in her own dialect;^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010) the TLIO's first sense is the feeling of one who desires or has an intimate and exclusive bond, spiritual or physical, with another person.^(TLIO) DELI's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, for a deep affectionate inclination towards someone or something.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the poetry of the Sicilian School and its successors the word was at the centre of courtly love: the phrase ''fino amore'' “pure love” and ''ioi d'amuri'' “joy of love” are key terms of troubadour lyric, taken from Old Occitan ''fin'amors'' and ''joy d'amor''.^(LEI|2, 844)^(TLIO) The god of love appears as a person, as in Petrarch, and the TLIO already records the word as a name for the beloved and for sexual love, often judged harshly, and for the mating impulse of animals.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) Dante ends the ''Commedia'' with God as ''l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle'' “the love that moves the sun and the other stars”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|1, 423)

+

+ Derivatives followed early: ''amoroso'' “lover” in Giacomo da Lentini, ''amorevole'' “loving” in Brunetto Latini, ''amorazzo'' “a low affair” in Boccaccio (1353), ''amorino'' “painted or carved cupid” in Firenzuola (1540–1541) and ''amoreggiare'' “to flirt” in 1664.^(DELI 1999) The northern dialects have ''moroso'' “sweetheart”, from the same adjective.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) ''Fare l'amore'' once meant to court or be engaged to someone, a sense now disused, and today means to have sex.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ Wiktionary records borrowings of the word into Greek and Portuguese.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1190 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras writes ''amore'' in the Genoese part of his ''Contrasto''.^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''amore'' and ''amoroso''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''amorevole''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1321 – Dante ends the ''Paradiso'' with the love that moves the sun and the stars.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses ''amorazzo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1540–1541 – Firenzuola calls a painted or carved cupid an ''amorino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1664 – ''Amoreggiare'' is first recorded, in Carlo Roberto Dati.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Deep [[m|en|affection]] for someone, as between parents and children or brothers and sisters: ''l’amore di una nonna per i nipoti''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|love]], intense and exclusive feeling for another person, based on desire and affection: ''un amore non corrisposto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(by extension)'' Sexuality, erotic love, ''(euphemistic)'' the sexual act, chiefly in ''fare l’amore''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In animals, the [[m|en|mating]] instinct and the season of it: ''andare in amore'' “to come into heat”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' God's love for his creatures; love of God and of one's neighbour; also God himself.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(mythology, usually capitalized)'' The god of love, [[m|en|Cupid]]; also a cupid in painting or sculpture.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The person one loves; also a term of endearment: ''amore mio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A delightful person or thing: ''un amore di gattino''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Love affairs.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A strong attachment to or liking for something: ''l’amore per il mare''; also the wish to have something, as money or power.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[amoroso]]

+ * [[amorevole]]

+ * [[amorevolezza]]

+ * [[amoreggiare]]

+ * [[amorino]]

+ * [[amoretto]]

+ * [[amorazzo]]

+ * [[innamorare]]

+ * [[innamorato]]

+ * [[innamoramento]]

+ * [[disamore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[amare]]

+ * [[disinnamorarsi]]

+ * [[innamorarsi]]

+ * [[amico]]

+ * [[la|amor]]

+ * [[fr|amour]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Set phrases include ''amor proprio'' “self-respect”, ''per amore o per forza'' “willingly or not”, ''d'amore e d'accordo'' “in perfect harmony” and ''per amor di Dio'' “for God's sake”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) In several of these phrases the word is cut to ''amor''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}