amo Italian · revision 37761

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Proverbia super natura feminarum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈa.mo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''amo''' ''m'' (plural ami)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old plural is [[àmora]].^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI|1, 422)

+ Tuscan rural speech has [[lamo]], with the article fused to the noun.^(Prati 1951|50)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|hamus|alt=hāmus|t=hook, fish-hook]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The old plural [[àmora]] leads DEI to suppose a neuter plural [[la-vul|*hamora]], as in the Calabrian dialects.^(DEI|173)

+

+ The same word is [[fro|ain]], [[pro|am]], [[ca|ham]] and [[rm|aum]], while modern [[fr|hameçon]] continues a derivative and [[es|anzuelo]] and [[pt|anzol]] go back to a diminutive [[la-vul|*hamiciolus]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) It is missing from Romanian.^(DEI|173)

+

+ The Latin word has no established etymology.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) DEI and the GDLI compare [[grc|χαμός|tr=khamós|t=curved]] from Hesychius, but de Vaan points out that the Latin long vowel can't be explained from it, and Wiktionary mentions a possible link with [[gem-pro|*hamô]].^(DEI|173)^(GDLI)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum'' of the 13th century, for the barbed hook, hidden by bait, used for catching fish.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Dante uses it figuratively for flattery or a snare before 1321.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Iacopone compares a text to a fishhook that is sweet outside and bitter within: ''Testo a l'amo s'arsemiglia, che de fore ha lo dolzore''.^(GDLI|1, 422) Love poets wrote of being caught ''all'amo'' like a fish by the lady's charms.^(TLIO) Giovanni Villani tells of a hook driven into a prisoner's tongue to stop him speaking, and the proverbial ''pescare con l'amo d'oro'', “to fish with a golden hook”, means risking more than one can gain.^(TLIO)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ In the 16th century Ariosto used it for the hooked flukes of an anchor.^(GRADIT 2003) The verb ''slamare'', “to unhook”, formed from the variant ''lamo'', is recorded in 1983.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – First record according to Zingarelli.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 13th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia super natura feminarum'' uses ''amo''.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi compares a text to a fishhook.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|1, 422)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for flattery or deceit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – Giovanni Villani tells of a hook driven into a tongue.^(TLIO)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ * 1983 – ''Slamare'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fish-hook]]: ''Ho messo un verme sull'amo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A lure or [[m|en|trap]]: ''abboccare all'amo'', to swallow the bait.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The hooked point of an [[m|en|anchor]], an arrow or the like.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(ancient Rome)'' A hooked iron set in the ground in front of entrenchments.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[slamare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|hamus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Amo'' is also the first person singular present of ''amare'' (“I love”), and in Roman speech a form of ''abbiamo'' (“we have”), both unrelated to the noun.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}