amante Italian · revision 38921

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1230–1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la amō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aˈman.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''amante''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural amanti)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|amāns|t=loving; a lover]], the present participle of [[m|la|amō|t=to love]], and in Italian it serves as the present participle of [[amare]].^(LEI|2, 464)^(TLIO)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The LEI counts both the adjective and the noun among the inherited words, and the sense “one who is loved” and the superlative [[amantissimo]] as 14th-century Latinisms.^(LEI|2, 464)

+

+ The same Latin participle survives in [[frm|amant]] (now [[fr|aimant]]), and as a noun in [[fr|amant|t=lover]], [[pro|amans]], [[ca|amant]], [[es|amante]] and [[pt|amante]].^(LEI|2, 464)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record, in DELI, the TLIO and the LEI, is in the poets of the Sicilian School: Giacomo da Lentini, writing between about 1230 and 1250, and Giacomino Pugliese, as a noun “one who loves, lover”.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(LEI|2, 464) Venetian ''amanti'' is found in the ''Panfilo'' of about 1250.^(LEI|2, 464)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word covered any love, carnal or spiritual.^(TLIO) Petrarch's ''O me beato sopra gli altri amanti'' uses it for the lover in the old poetic sense, which is now literary.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) Tasso's line ''Ahi tanto amò la non amante amata'' plays on the participle.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Treccani 2011) The adjective “fond of, inclined to” something is recorded from the mid-14th century and again from Baretti in 1765.^(LEI|2, 464) Tommaseo also records an old use of ''amante'' for the lodestone ([[calamita]]), after the attraction that the Greeks called “love”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Today the main sense is a person in a secret or extramarital relationship, the partner in an affair, while the adjective with ''di'' means “fond of”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''amante'' as a noun.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1250 – Venetian ''amanti'' appears in the ''Panfilo''.^(LEI|2, 464)

+ * 1294 – The superlative ''amantissimo'' is recorded in Guittone d'Arezzo.^(LEI|2, 464)

+ * Mid-14th century – The adjective “fond of” is recorded.^(LEI|2, 464)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Fond of, keen on something, with ''di'': ''È molto amante della montagna.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|lover]], a person in a secret or [[m|en|extramarital]] love affair: ''Aveva un amante da anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who is passionate about something; a lover of music, art, food: ''un amante della lirica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' One who is in love, a sweetheart.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[amantemente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[amare]]

+ * [[amore]]

+ * [[la|amāns]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate nautical ''amante'' (also ''mante'') is a tackle of ropes and blocks for raising yards, sails and loads; it comes from [[grc|ἱμάς|tr=himás|t=leather strap]] and is recorded from 1614, with ''mante'' from the 13th century.^(DEI|150)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT) French had it as ''aman'' in 1382–1384.^(DIFIT) The knot called ''gassa d'amante'' (bowline) belongs to this word.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}