luogo Italian · revision 38458

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1221|origins=la locus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlwɔ.ɡo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''luogo''' ''m'' (plural luoghi)^(Wiktionary)

+ The plural is ''luoghi'';^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also had a feminine plural ''luògora''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DELI 1999) The archaic and poetic form is ''loco'', the popular one ''logo'', and old Tuscan had ''luoco''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DEI|2286)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|locus|t=place]], from its accusative.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The older form [[roa-oit|loco]] keeps the Latin sounds, while the modern form shows the Tuscan diphthong of a stressed open /ɔ/ in an open syllable and the northern voicing of /k/ to /g/;^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary gives the chain loco, then [[m|roa-oit|luoco]], then luogo.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) DEI therefore calls the word one of northern origin.^(DEI|2286)

+

+ The word is found in all the Romance languages: [[fr|lieu]], [[oc|luec]], [[ca|lloc]], [[es|luego|t=then, soon]], [[pt|logo|t=soon]], [[sc|logu]] and [[ro|loc]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) In the south-west of the Romance area it was rivalled or replaced by the derivative of [[la|locālis]] (Spanish [[m|es|lugar]]), because the frozen form of the noun had become an adverb meaning “on the spot”, then “at once, soon”.^(DÉRom)

+

+ The older Latin form [[m|la|stlocus]] is recorded by Quintilian.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from [[ine-pro|*stel-|t=to put, place]], but de Vaan objects that no such suffix is known; he considers a preform [[m|ine-pro|*slok-o-]] and leaves the origin open, and DELI calls the word unexplained.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999) Several technical senses of the Latin word were taken over from [[grc|τόπος|tr=tópos|t=place]], and the phrase [[m|la|locus commūnis|alt=locī commūnēs]] translates [[m|grc|τόποι κοινοί|tr=tópoi koinoí]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the word to 1221.^(Nocentini 2010) In DELI the first records are Guittone d'Arezzo's ''loco'' and Dante's ''luogo'', both before 1294, in the sense “a portion of space, really or ideally bounded”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Brunetto Latini, before 1294, already uses the word for a region of the earth, for the place where something happens, for a town or village, for a passage in a book and, figuratively, for the right moment.^(DELI 1999) Dante has it for a part of a body (1304–1308), and in the 14th century it named a building or room used for a purpose and, figuratively, social rank (''d'umil loco'', “of humble station”).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In 1549 Bernardo Segni explains Aristotle's ''luoghi comuni'' as the topics of rhetoric and dialectic, a phrase that passed into all the European languages and later took on its negative sense of “cliché”.^(DELI 1999) ''Aver luogo'' “to take place” is compared by DEI with [[fr|avoir lieu]], and ''luogo comodo'' was a popular word for a latrine.^(DEI|2286)^(GDLI|9, 1) The mathematical ''luogo geometrico'' “locus” is in Maria Gaetana Agnesi in 1748.^(DELI 1999) In Lombardy and Veneto ''luogo'' also meant a farm or estate, a sense Manzoni brought back into the written language.^(DEI|2286)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ''Luogotenente'' “lieutenant” (before 1363) follows Latin ''locum tenens'' but was adapted from [[fr|lieutenant]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1221 – The word is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ''loco'' and Dante ''luogo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a region, a town and a passage in a book.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The feminine plural ''luogora'' is recorded in the ''Bestiario toscano''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses ''luogotenente''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1549 – Bernardo Segni explains ''luoghi comuni''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1748 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi uses ''luogo geometrico''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A portion of [[m|en|space]], really or ideally bounded: ''un luogo immaginario''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # An area or [[m|en|locality]]; a town or village: ''Siamo tornati nei luoghi della nostra infanzia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The [[m|en|place]] where something happens or has happened: ''Ci siamo dati appuntamento nel solito luogo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A building or room used for a purpose: ''luogo di culto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A part of an object or body: ''La vernice si è staccata in più luoghi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A [[m|en|passage]] in a book or argument.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(geometry)'' A [[m|en|locus]], the set of points satisfying a condition.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The position of a star on the celestial sphere.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(rhetoric)'' A general argument or topic applicable to particular cases.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[luogotenente]]

+ * [[luogotenenza]]

+ * [[luogotenenziale]]

+ * [[sopralluogo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[loco]]

+ * [[locale]]

+ * [[locare]]

+ * [[loculo]]

+ * [[allogare]]

+ * [[la|locus]]

+ * [[fr|lieu]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''avere luogo'' (to take place), ''dare luogo a'' (to give rise to), ''in luogo di'' (instead of), ''fuori luogo'' (out of place), ''in primo luogo'' (in the first place) and ''luogo comune'' (a commonplace).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}