re Italian · revision 37897

+ Italian has two words spelled ''re'': the word for a king, from Latin, and the name of a musical note, from the first syllable of a Latin hymn.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ {{homograph|1|king}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=12th–13th century, Ritmo laurenziano|origins=ine-pro *h₃rḗǵs}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈre/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Regional: /ˈrɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''re''' ''m'' (invariable, feminine regina)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms are [[roa-oit|rege]], from the Latin accusative, and [[roa-oit|rei]] or [[roa-oit|rey]], which Alessio thought were of French origin.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for a king is [[inh|la|rēx|t=king]], from the nominative rather than the accusative, which survives in the literary doublet [[rege]].^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli derive it from the accusative ⟨rēgem⟩, and DELI classes it as a learned word, while DEI calls it semi-popular.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3214) The same Latin word is [[fr|roi]], [[oc|rei]], [[ca|rei]], [[es|rey]] and [[pt|rei]], and Meyer-Lübke adds [[dlm|ra]] and the Engadine form [[m|rm|raig]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

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+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*rēks]] and [[ine-pro|*h₃rḗǵs|t=ruler, king]], and is related to [[m|la|regō|t=to rule, guide]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010) It belongs to the old vocabulary of law and religion that survives only at the western and eastern edges of the Indo-European world: [[sga|rí]] and [[sa|राजन्|tr=rā́jan]] are its cognates.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) DELI quotes Émile Benveniste's view that the ⟨rex⟩ was at first closer to a priest than to a modern king, the man with the authority to trace the bounds of the city and to fix the rules of law.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Ritmo laurenziano'', of the 12th or 13th century, and Nocentini dates the word to the second half of the 12th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT's date is before 1294.^(GRADIT 2003) The sense in the first records is the sovereign of a state.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses both ''re'' and ''rege'' in the ''Convivio'' and the ''Commedia'' but never in the ''Vita Nuova'' or the lyric poems, and his plural is almost always ''regi''.^(DELI 1999) The chess king appears in the 13th-century ''Tavola Ritonda'', and the king of playing cards in a document from Ferrara in 1475.^(DELI 1999) From the turn of the 14th century ''re'' also names a person who excels in a field, often ironically, as in Luigi Alamanni's “Voi siete il Re della discortesia” (you are the king of discourtesy, 1548).^(DELI 1999) Francesco Berni called a river the “gran re de' fiumi” before 1535, and an animal that surpasses others in strength or beauty is recorded in 1891.^(DELI 1999)

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+ Many royal words came from Latin, some through French: ''regina'' “queen” is recorded before 1294, while its variant ''reina'' follows French ''reine''.^(DELI 1999) ''Reame'' “realm” copies Old French ''roiame'', which continues Latin ''regimen'', and ''reale'' “royal” owes its form to Old French ''reial''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The ironic phrase ''essere più realista del re'' “to be more royalist than the king” is recorded in 1891.^(DELI 1999) In bird and fish names ''re'' marks a leading species, and the wren is ''reattino'' or ''re di macchia''.^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|827)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th–13th century – The ''Ritmo laurenziano'' has the first record.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – The ''Tavola Ritonda'' uses ''re'' for the chess piece.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – ''Regina'' “queen” is recorded in Brunetto Latini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1475 – A document from Ferrara uses ''re'' for the playing card.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1548 – Luigi Alamanni uses ''re'' for someone who excels, ironically.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – ''Più realista del re'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|king]], the sovereign of a monarchy: ''il re del Marocco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A title of gods in classical myth and of God or Christ: ''il Re dei re''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Someone who excels or dominates in a field, a [[m|en|magnate]], also ironically: ''È il re delle scuse.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An animal or thing that surpasses all others of its kind.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(chess, card games)'' The king.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(zoology)'' Part of the common names of various birds and fish.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[regina]]

+ * [[reale]]

+ * [[reame]]

+ * [[regale]]

+ * [[regalità]]

+ * [[reggia]]

+ * [[regio]]

+ * [[regicida]]

+ * [[regicidio]]

+ * [[regnare]]

+ * [[regno]]

+ * [[regnicolo]]

+ * [[reuccio]]

+ * [[reginetta]]

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+ {{homograph|2|musical note}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=14th century, Antonio de' Carelli|origins=la resonō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈrɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''re''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The note is the first syllable [[der|la|resonō|alt=resonāre|t=to resound]], which opens the second half-line of the hymn to Saint John the Baptist ⟨Ut queant laxis resonare fibris⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti ascribe the hymn to Paul the Deacon.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In its melody each half-line begins one step higher, and in the 11th century Guido d'Arezzo took the first syllables as names for the notes of the scale.^(DEI|3215)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Devoto 1968) The same source gave [[ut]], [[mi]], [[fa]], [[sol]] and [[la]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI dates the note to the 14th century, in Antonio de' Carelli, and Devoto–Oli and GRADIT to the 13th–14th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) Carelli has Music sing “Ut Re Mi Sol Fa” in order.^(GDLI|15, 601) Sabatini–Coletti gives the 16th century.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Machiavelli's ''Clizia'' jokes about a singer who answers a story with “uno ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la”.^(GDLI|15, 601)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In the countries that use these names ''re'' corresponds to the letter D of German and English notation.^(GDLI|15, 601)^(Wiktionary) German recorded ''Re'' as a musical term in 1732.^(DIFIT)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 11th century – Guido d'Arezzo names the notes after the hymn's syllables.^(DEI|3215)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * 14th century – Antonio de' Carelli has the first Italian record.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1732 – German ''Re'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(music)'' Re, the second note of the scale of C, [[m|en|D]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' The string or key of an instrument that gives this note.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(music)'' The key of D: ''un concerto in re minore''.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reggere]]

+ * [[regola]]

+ * [[la|rex]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Both words are invariable: ''il re, i re''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The king is pronounced with a closed vowel, the note with an open one.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI|15, 601) The feminine of the king is ''regina''.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) An old ''re'' “line of armed men”, from Old French, is recorded in the GDLI.^(GDLI|15, 601)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}