lungo Italian · revision 37881

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini and Odo delle Colonne|origins=ine-pro *dlongʰos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlun.ɡo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lungo''' (feminine lunga, masculine plural lunghi, feminine plural lunghe, superlative lunghissimo, diminutive lunghétto or lunghìno)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|longus|t=long; distant]], continuing its accusative [[m|la|longum]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is found across the Romance languages: [[fr|long]], [[oc|lonc]], [[ca|llong]], [[osp|luengo]], [[pt|longo]], [[sc|longu]] and [[ro|lung]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DELI notes that the senses of the Latin adjective often run parallel to those of [[grc|μακρός|tr=makrós|t=long]], but that nearly all the Italian derivatives were formed in Romance.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ De Vaan traces the Latin adjective to [[itc-pro|*dlongos|alt=*(d)longo-]] and [[ine-pro|*dlongʰos|alt=*dlongʰ-o-]], the source also of [[got|𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃|tr=laggs]] and [[goh|lang]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Related forms with other vowels are [[grc|δολιχός|tr=dolikhós|t=long]], [[sa|दीर्घ|tr=dīrghá|t=long]], [[cu|длъгъ|tr=dlŭgŭ|t=long]] and [[lt|ilgas|t=long]], and de Vaan suggests that all of them go back to an old compound that hardened into the word for “long”.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini thinks that no single Indo-European form can be reconstructed for the whole group, in spite of the obvious likeness.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The vowel /u/ is Florentine: that dialect raised /o/ before a nasal followed by a consonant, and Devoto compares the Sienese and Florentine outcomes of the same sequence.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) An older [[roa-oit|longo]] survives in Old Italian and in the dialects.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first dated sense is the temporal one, “lasting a long time”, in Giacomo da Lentini and Odo delle Colonne, poets of the Sicilian school who died before 1250;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GRADIT dates the word by the same sense.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The spatial sense, “extending lengthwise”, follows in Brunetto Latini (before 1294), whose ''Rettorica'' reports that some philosophers held the world to be round and others ''lungo'' (long, oblong).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|9, 295)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A person ''lungo'' is tall and thin (14th century), a person who takes ages over something is slow (before 1400, Franco Sacchetti), and a drink made with a lot of water is weak or long: Francesco Redi used the sense before 1698, ''brodo lungo'' is recorded in 1840 and ''caffè lungo'' in 1869.^(DELI 1999) In metrics and phonetics a long vowel or syllable is ''lunga'' (about 1438, Leon Battista Alberti).^(DELI 1999) Old Italian could also use the word for “far away”, as in Cavalca and the ''Fioretti''.^(Prati 1951|607)

+

+ As a preposition ''lungo'' meant “close by, alongside” (before 1294, Latini) and “along the whole length of” (Dante), as in Petrarch's line “Lungo l'amate rive andai” (I walked along the beloved banks); Giordano da Pisa used it for “during” before 1311.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|9, 301) From the preposition come the street names ''lungarno'' (before 1380), ''lungotevere'' (1925), ''lungolago'' (1932) and ''lungomare'' (1942), for the roads along a river, lake or the sea.^(DELI 1999) ''Lungometraggio'', a feature-length film, appears in 1939, and the physicists' ''lunghezza d'onda'', wavelength, in 1908.^(DELI 1999) German took ''lungo'' as a musical term for a held note.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini and Odo delle Colonne use ''lungo'' for “lasting a long time”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1242–1243 – The derivative ''longeça'' (length) appears in the phrase ''longeça de vita''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the adjective in space and the preposition for “alongside”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses the preposition for “during”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1380 – ''Lungarno'', the street along the Arno, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1438 – Leon Battista Alberti uses ''lunga'' of a long vowel or syllable.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – ''Caffè lungo'' is recorded in the Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1939 – ''Lungometraggio'' (feature film) is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – ''Lungomare'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|long]], having a given length: ''Il corridoio è lungo dieci metri.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Long, of more than the usual length; of clothes, reaching the feet or wrists: ''una sciarpa lunga'', ''pantaloni lunghi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' [[m|en|tall]] and thin, of a person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Lasting a long time, [[m|en|lengthy]]: ''Abbiamo fatto una lunga passeggiata.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' [[m|en|slow]], taking too long: ''Quanto sei lungo a prepararti!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Weak, made with more water than usual, of a drink: ''caffè lungo'', ''brodo lungo''.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Going beyond the target, of a shot or throw: ''palla lunga''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(phonetics, metrics)'' Long, of a vowel or syllable.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|along]], alongside: ''Abbiamo camminato lungo il canale.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|during]], throughout: ''lungo tutta la sua vita''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|length]]; in the phrases ''per il lungo'' (lengthwise) and ''in lungo e in largo'' (far and wide).^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|2, 1913)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lunghezza]]

+ * [[lungamente]]

+ * [[lungaggine]]

+ * [[lungagnata]]

+ * [[lunghesso]]

+ * [[lungarno]]

+ * [[lungomare]]

+ * [[lungolago]]

+ * [[lungofiume]]

+ * [[lungotevere]]

+ * [[lungometraggio]]

+ * [[allungare]]

+ * [[dilungare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[longevo]]

+ * [[longitudine]]

+ * [[longanime]]

+ * [[lontano]]

+ * [[lungi]]

+ * [[prolungare]]

+ * [[la|longus]]

+ * [[fr|long]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''a lungo'' (for a long time), ''alla lunga'' (in the long run), ''di gran lunga'' (by far), ''andare per le lunghe'' (to drag on), ''saperla lunga'' (to be shrewd) and ''fare il passo più lungo della gamba'' (to bite off more than one can chew).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) The plural is ''lunghi'', ''lunghe''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}