libro Italian · revision 37823

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1211, Florentine bankers' account book|origins=la liber}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈli.bro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''libro''' ''m'' (plural libri, diminutive librétto or librìno or libriccìno (more common) or librettìno, augmentative libróne, pejorative libràccio, derogatory libriciàttolo or (literary) libràttolo, diminutive-derogatory librùccio or librettùccio or libricciòlo)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|liber|t=inner bark of a tree; book]], a learned or semi-learned word: Körting points out that the ⟨i⟩ kept in every Romance language shows a partly bookish transmission.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|2223)^(Körting 1907) DEI records semi-learned forms in the old dialects of Siena and Umbria, such as [[roa-oit|livoro]], [[m|roa-oit|liro]] and [[m|roa-oit|lìvero]].^(DEI|2223) The same word is [[fr|livre]], [[ca|llibre]], [[es|libro]] and [[pt|livro]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin noun first meant the thin layer between the wood and the outer bark of a tree, which was used for writing before papyrus came in;^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(DEI|2223) Tommaso Garzoni, quoted by DELI, already explained the word so.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(DEI|2223) For want of a better explanation, de Vaan connects it with [[ine-pro|*lubʰ-|t=bast, leaf]] through [[itc-pro|*lufro-]], comparing [[lt|lúobas|t=bast]], [[ru|луб|tr=lub|t=bast]] and [[got|𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃|tr=laufs|t=leaf]].^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini likewise compares [[cu|лѹбъ|tr=lubŭ|t=bark]] and [[m|lt|lùpti|t=to peel]] and assumes an older [[la|*luber]], as [[m|la|libet|t=it pleases]] goes back to [[m|la|lubet]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2223) DEI calls the origin unknown.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2223) Nocentini notes parallel developments in [[m|la|cōdex]], first “tree trunk” (see [[codice]]), and in [[de|Buch|t=book]] beside [[m|de|Buche|t=beech]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is a Florentine bankers' account book of 1211, where the word means a register of accounts.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The sense “written work” is older in northern Italy, as ''libre'' in a 12th-century Gallo-Italic sermon.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Restoro d'Arezzo (1282) uses ''libro'' for one of the parts into which a work is divided, and Francesco da Barberino (1313) for a volume of sheets, in the old form ''livro''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Domenico Cavalca (before 1342) defines it plainly: “'l libro non è altro che pelli d'agnello ben rase, legate fra due tavole” (a book is nothing but well-shaved lambskins bound between two boards).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) In botany it was again used for the inner bark, the phloem, from Bernardino Daniello (before 1565).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The colour of the binding gave names to official books such as the ''libro d'oro'' and ''libro nero''; the ''libri all'Indice'' were those condemned by the Church.^(DELI 1999) ''Libraio'' “bookseller” is recorded from 1368 and ''libreria'' “bookshop” from Tasso (1586); the older sense of ''libreria'' “collection of books, library” survives in English ''library''.^(DELI 1999) ''Libretto'' “little book” is in Brunetto Latini (before 1294) and became the text of an opera with Metastasio (1724).^(DELI 1999) ''Libresco'' “bookish” (1931) comes from French ''livresque''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – ''Libre'' is used for a written work in a Gallo-Italic sermon.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1211 – A Florentine bankers' book uses ''libro'' for an account book.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses it for a part of a work.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1313 – Francesco da Barberino uses it for a volume.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1368 – ''Libraio'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1565 – Bernardino Daniello uses it for the phloem of plants.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1724 – Metastasio uses ''libretto'' for the text of an opera.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|book]], a set of printed or written sheets bound together with a cover: ''Ho comprato tre libri usati al mercato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A written work, the text contained in a book: ''un libro di ricette'', ''Il suo ultimo libro parla della guerra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # One of the parts into which a long work is divided, especially a classical one: ''il sesto libro dell'Eneide''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Each of the books of the [[m|en|Bible]]: ''il libro di Giobbe''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|register]] or account book kept by a business or a public office: ''libri contabili''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Something that can be read or studied like a book: ''il libro della natura''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(botany)'' The [[m|en|phloem]], the inner bark of woody plants.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[libraio]]

+ * [[libreria]]

+ * [[librario]]

+ * [[libretto]]

+ * [[librettista]]

+ * [[libresco]]

+ * [[libercolo]]

+ * [[librone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[libello]]

+ * [[codice]]

+ * [[la|liber]]

+ * [[fr|livre]]

+ * [[en|library]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A libro'' describes something that opens and closes like a book (''tavolo a libro''), and ''essere un libro aperto'' is said of a sincere, transparent person.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) An obsolete adjective ''libro'' “free”, a syncopated form of ''libero'', is found in the 14th and 15th centuries.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|2223)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}