leggere Italian · revision 37966

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1219, Breve di Montieri|origins=ine-pro *leǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlɛd.d͡ʒe.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''leggere''' (first-person singular present lèggo, first-person singular past historic lèssi, past participle lètto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[roa-oit|legere]], [[roa-oit|lezere]] and [[roa-oit|leggiare]], a Sienese form, and an old past participle was [[roa-oit|leggiuto]].^(GDLI|8, 903)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|legō|t=to gather, collect; to read]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The GDLI calls it a learned word.^(GDLI|8, 903) The Latin verb lives on in [[fr|lire]], [[oc|legir]], [[es|leer]] and [[pt|ler]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2194)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The first meaning of the Latin verb was “to gather, pick”, which survives in compounds such as [[m|la|colligō|t=to gather]] and [[m|la|ēligō|t=to choose]], the source of [[eleggere]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) DELI calls the passage to “reading” obscure and suggests that it went through a liturgical and political use, or through the phrase ⟨legere oculis⟩ “to gather (the letters) with the eyes”;^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Sabatini–Coletti favours the phrase.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) De Vaan sees a shift from “collect” to “watch out for” and “concentrate on” and finally “read”, and Nocentini compares [[grc|λέγω|tr=légō]], which went from “to gather” to “to recount, say”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Both go back to [[ine-pro|*leǵ-|t=to collect]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The noun [[leggio]] “lectern” only looks like a derivative: DELI derives it from [[grc|λογεῖον|tr=logeîon|t=speaker's platform]], from the same Greek family, and the link with the verb is secondary.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the form ''legere'' in the ''Breve di Montieri'' of 1219, and ''leggere'' follows in the 13th-century translation of the ''Tesoro''; the sense is “to recognize words from written signs and understand them”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Early on the verb also meant “to study” (Iacopone, before 1306) and “to teach” from a chair, as in Dante (before 1321), a sense now archaic.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Dante also used it figuratively for reading someone's thoughts.^(DELI 1999) ''Leggere'' “to interpret signs” is recorded in Tasso (before 1595), “to interpret a passage” in Castelvetro (before 1571), and ''leggere la mano'' “to read someone's palm” in Federigo Tozzi (before 1920).^(DELI 1999) A southern phrase ''leggere la vita'' “to list someone's misdeeds” is recorded in Sicilian in 1752.^(DEI|2194)

+

+ ''Leggibile'' “readable” goes back to the 14th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI's first record of ''leggibilità'' is an 1883 letter of Rodolfo Renier mocking the word, while Nocentini dates it to 1856.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Leggicchiare'' and ''leggiucchiare'' “to read here and there” are recorded before 1744 and before 1850.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – ''Legere'' appears in the ''Breve di Montieri''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – ''Leggere'' appears in the translation of the ''Tesoro''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone uses the verb for “to study”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “to teach”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Leggibile'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1595 – Tasso uses it for interpreting signs.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1752 – Sicilian ''léjiri la vita'' is recorded.^(DEI|2194)

+ * Before 1920 – ''Leggere la mano'' is recorded in Tozzi.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|read]], to recognize written signs and understand the words they form: ''Mio figlio ha imparato a leggere a cinque anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To read a text, to take in its content: ''Sto leggendo un romanzo di Calvino'', ''leggere l'inglese'', to be able to read English.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To learn something by reading: ''Ho letto sul giornale che chiudono la stazione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To read habitually, to spend time reading: ''In vacanza leggo tantissimo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To read aloud: ''La maestra ci leggeva una storia ogni venerdì.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|interpret]] a text or a work in a certain way; in philology, of a manuscript, to have a given reading.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To read conventional or natural signs: ''leggere una mappa'', ''leggere il termometro''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To guess, to see into: ''leggere nel pensiero'', to read someone's mind, ''leggere tra le righe'', to read between the lines, ''leggere la mano'', to read palms.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(archaic or literary)'' To lecture, to teach from a chair.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[leggibile]]

+ * [[leggibilità]]

+ * [[illeggibile]]

+ * [[leggicchiare]]

+ * [[leggiucchiare]]

+ * [[rileggere]]

+ * [[letta]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lettura]]

+ * [[lettore]]

+ * [[lezione]]

+ * [[leggenda]]

+ * [[eleggere]]

+ * [[leggio]]

+ * [[la|legō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Principal parts: ''leggo, lessi, letto''; the verb takes ''avere''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Leggere'' with the stress on the second syllable is an archaic form of ''leggero'' “light”.^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The phrase ''per non saper né leggere né scrivere'' means “just to be on the safe side”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}