lottare Italian · revision 38800

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1330, Buccio di Ranallo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /lotˈta.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lottare''' (first-person singular present lòtto, first-person singular past historic lottài, past participle lottàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian has [[m|roa-oit|luttare]] and [[m|roa-oit|loctare]].^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|luctor|t=to wrestle, to struggle]], a verb first of athletics.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) The word is pan-Romance: [[fr|lutter]], [[oc|luchar]], [[ca|lluitar]], [[es|luchar]], [[pt|luitar]] and [[ro|lupta]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The noun [[m|la|lucta|t=wrestling]] is a late derivative, of the 4th century, while [[m|la|luctātor|t=wrestler]] is classical.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ DELI calls the origin of the Latin verb unexplained, and DEI calls it uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2273) Nocentini, Devoto and de Vaan compare [[grc|λυγίζω|tr=lugízō|t=to bend, twist]] and a root [[ine-pro|*lewg-|t=to bend]], with reference to the bending of the limbs in wrestling.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes it as a frequentative based on a past participle [[itc-pro|*lukto-|t=bent]], with cognates in Celtic and Gothic, but he finds the short vowel hard to explain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The older form [[roa-oit|luttare]] precedes the modern one, which DELI first finds in Castiglione.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Aquilan poet Buccio di Ranallo, in his ''Leggenda di Santa Caterina'' of 1330, with the sense “to fight, to come into conflict”.^(TLIO) DELI dates ''luttare'' to the 14th century, in anonymous ''Frottole'', and the modern form ''lottare'' to Castiglione (before 1529), who held it useful for a courtier to know how to wrestle.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|9, 229)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the verb for striving hard towards a goal, and even of a flame that went on burning.^(TLIO) The sporting sense lived on beside the figurative ones: Segneri wrote of the prizes won in ancient games by running, fighting and wrestling.^(GDLI|9, 229)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Tommaseo noted ''lottare'' of winds and waves, and of a sailor facing the sea.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The noun [[lotta]] gave set phrases of the 19th century: ''lotta di classe'' (1883) translates Marx and Engels's [[de|Klassenkampf]], and ''lotta per l'esistenza'' (1864) translates Malthus's and Darwin's [[en|struggle for existence]].^(DELI 1999) Today the verb is used of fighting for a cause, of struggling against hardship or illness, and in ''lottare con la morte'', to be dying.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) GDLI records a second, rare ''lottare'' “to draw lots”, from [[lotto]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1330 – Buccio di Ranallo uses ''lottare'' “to fight”.^(TLIO)

+ * 14th century – ''Luttare'' is recorded in anonymous ''Frottole''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1375 – Boccaccio names the wrestling game ''lutta''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1529 – Castiglione uses the form ''lottare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1864 – ''Lotta per l'esistenza'' appears in the Italian Darwin.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1883 – ''Lotta di classe'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(sports)'' To [[m|en|wrestle]], to practise wrestling as a sport.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To [[m|en|fight]], to be engaged in a struggle, also in a battle or a war: ''I due lottavano a terra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|struggle]] with every means for a goal (with ''per'' or ''contro''): ''Hanno lottato per anni contro l'inquinamento del fiume.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To try to resist something: ''lottare col sonno'', ''lottare con sé stesso'', to try to master one's impulses.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In ''lottare con la morte'', to be gravely ill, to be dying.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lotta]]

+ * [[lottatore]]

+ * [[colluttare]]

+ * [[colluttazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[riluttare]]

+ * [[la|luctor]]

+ * [[fr|lutter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}