lieto Italian · revision 38869

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1261|origins=la laetus}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈljɛ.to/, /ˈlje.to/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''lieto''' (feminine lieta, masculine plural lieti, feminine plural liete, superlative lietissimo)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|laetus|t=glad, joyful; fertile, rich]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DELI and Nocentini explain that the Latin adjective first meant “fertile, fruitful”, a word of the farming world, and that this older sense lives on in [[letame]] “manure”; [[letizia]] comes from the same word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2227) GDLI classes the Italian adjective as a learned word.^(GDLI) The same word is [[fro|lié]], [[pro|let]], [[rm|led]], [[osp|ledo]] and [[pt|ledo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

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+ The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) Assuming that “fat, rich” is the older sense, Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny connect it with [[m|la|lardum|t=bacon]] and [[m|la|largus|t=generous]], but de Vaan calls this reconstruction very artificial.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD notes that it is unclear which sense is the original one, and that Cicero took “glad” to be the basic meaning.^(OLD 2012)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the word to 1261 and Zingarelli to 1266.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI's first record of the sense “bringing joy” is in Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294, and of “feeling or showing contentment” in Dante's ''Commedia'' (1300–1313).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lorenzo de' Medici's carnival song gave the language a famous couplet: ''Chi vuol esser lieto, sia: / di doman non c'è certezza'', “Let whoever wants to be happy be so: there is no certainty about tomorrow.”^(GDLI)^(Treccani 2011) In literary Italian ''lieto'' is also said of places that delight the eye, as in Dante's ''Una montagna v'è che già fu lieta / d'acqua e di fronde'', “There is a mountain there that once was glad with water and leaves”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The Latin farming sense survived in poetry for land and plants, “fertile, luxuriant”, from the 14th century to Tasso and Bembo.^(DEI|2227)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

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+ ''Lieto evento'', the birth of a child, is a 20th-century journalistic phrase, which DEI compares with English “happy event”.^(DEI|2227) ''Lieto fine'' is a happy ending, and ''lieto di conoscerla'' is a polite formula for introductions.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1261 – ''Lieto'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “bringing joy”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “glad, joyful”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Lietezza'' and the sense “luxuriant” of plants are recorded.^(DEI|2227)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1339 – ''Allietare'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 20th century – ''Lieto evento'' “birth” appears in newspapers.^(DEI|2227)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|glad]], happy, content: ''Siamo lieti di annunciare l'apertura del nuovo negozio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Expressing joy: ''Aveva gli occhi lieti di chi ha appena saputo una bella notizia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Bringing joy, [[m|en|pleasant]]: ''Speriamo di rivederci in un'occasione più lieta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of a period, spent happily: ''Furono anni lieti, nonostante la povertà.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' Of a place, delightful, pleasing to the eye.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' Of land or plants, fertile, [[m|en|luxuriant]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lietezza]]

+ * [[allietare]]

+ * [[lietamente]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[letizia]]

+ * [[letame]]

+ * [[la|laetus]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Lieto di conoscerla'' (or ''di conoscerti''), “pleased to meet you”, is used in introductions.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Lieto fine'' has the plural ''lieti fini'' or is left invariable.^(Zingarelli 2010) GDLI also records a ''lieto'' in entomology, a genus of wood-boring beetles (''Lyctus''), named after the Cretan city of Lyktos.^(GDLI)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}