lavare Italian · revision 38998

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=ine-pro *lewh₃-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /laˈva.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lavare''' (first-person singular present làvo, first-person singular past historic lavài, past participle lavàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|lavō|t=to wash]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The verb is found in all the Romance languages: [[fr|laver]], [[oc|lavar]], [[ca|lavar]], [[es|lavar]], [[pt|lavar]] and [[ro|la]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The DÉRom reconstructs two Proto-Romance variants, an older one of the second conjugation kept only in Logudorese Sardinian, and one of the first conjugation found everywhere.^(DÉRom)

+

+ In Latin the infinitive of the third conjugation meant “to wash something” and that of the first “to wash oneself”, and there were the compounds in [[m|la|-luō]] (from which Italian [[diluvio]] and [[alluvione]]).^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) The root is [[ine-pro|*lewh₃-|t=to wash]], also in [[grc|λούω|tr=loúō|t=I wash]] and [[m|grc|λουτρόν|tr=loutrón|t=bath]], and in [[goh|louga|t=lye]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) DELI, however, calls the connections with other languages uncertain.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese poet Uguccione da Lodi, at the beginning of the 13th century, with the sense of cleaning something of dirt, especially with water.^(TLIO) DELI dates the reflexive ''lavarsi'' to Iacopone da Todi (before 1306) and “to clean by soaking and rubbing in a liquid” to Dante (1313–1319).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante also has the figurative sense “to purify, redeem” (1300–1313), and Cavalca the absolute ''lavare'', to do washing for a living, as of a mother who went out ''a lavare panni a prezzo'' (before 1342).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Old Italian also said that a river or the sea washes a land, and used the verb for cleansing the body in medicine.^(TLIO) The washerwoman, ''lavandaia'', goes back to Medieval Latin ''lavandaria'' in Salimbene (1281–1288).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Lavarsene le mani'', to refuse all responsibility, recalls Pilate washing his hands in Matthew 27:24;^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI notes that the Jewish gesture was really a solemn declaration of innocence.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Lavaggio'' was formed on French ''lavage'', and ''lavaggio del cervello'' (1953) is a calque of English ''brainwashing'', which may go back to a Chinese model.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Recent senses include the slang “to launder” dirty money, and in watercolour painting “to wash” a colour with a wet brush, a sense borrowed by German as ''lavieren'' (1808–09).^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses ''lavare''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1281–1288 – Medieval Latin ''lavandaria'' “washerwoman” is in Salimbene.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses ''lavarsi''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''lavare'' “to purify”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''lavare'' “to do the washing”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''lavandaia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1525 – Giorgio Vasari uses ''lavamano''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1839–1841 – ''Lavaggio'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1861 – ''Lavanderia'' “laundry” appears.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1926 – ''Lavatrice'' “washing machine” is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1953 – ''Lavaggio del cervello'' appears in the press.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|wash]]: to make clean with water or a detergent: ''Lava l'insalata prima di condirla.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To wash a person or a part of the body: ''lavare i capelli al figlio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(absolute)'' To do the [[m|en|laundry]]: ''Oggi non posso uscire, devo lavare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To wipe out a fault or an offence, to purify: ''lavare i peccati'', ''lavare un'onta'', to avenge an insult.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(slang)'' To [[m|en|launder]] money of criminal origin.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(literary)'' Of a river or the sea, to wash a coast or land.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(painting)'' In watercolour, to dilute and shade a colour with a wet brush.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''lavarsi'': to wash oneself: ''Mi lavo e arrivo.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lavabiancheria]]

+ * [[lavabile]]

+ * [[lavaggio]]

+ * [[lavamano]]

+ * [[lavandaia]]

+ * [[lavandaio]]

+ * [[lavanderia]]

+ * [[lavandino]]

+ * [[lavapiatti]]

+ * [[lavasecco]]

+ * [[lavatrice]]

+ * [[lavatoio]]

+ * [[lavatura]]

+ * [[slavato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lavabo]]

+ * [[lavacro]]

+ * [[latrina]]

+ * [[lavanda]]

+ * [[diluvio]]

+ * [[la|lavo]]

+ * [[grc|λούω|tr=loúō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed expressions include ''lavare il capo a qualcuno'', to scold someone severely, ''lavare la testa all'asino'', to waste effort on someone who does not deserve it, ''lavare a secco'', to dry-clean, and the proverb ''i panni sporchi si lavano in famiglia''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}