raggio Italian · revision 39091

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=first half of the 13th century, Bondie Dietaiuti}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈrad.d͡ʒo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''raggio''' ''m'' (plural raggi, diminutive (uncommon) raggétto or raggettìno)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|ragio]] and [[roa-oit|raglio]], and [[roa-oit|raço]] at Bologna.^(GDLI|15)^(DELI 1999) The poetic [[rai]] is used especially in the plural.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|radius|t=rod, staff; spoke; ray]], the popular outcome of the word beside the learned [[radio]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Devoto starts from [[la-vul|*radjus]], treated like [[m|la|modius]], which gave [[moggio]]: the /dj/ became /ddʒ/.^(Devoto 1968) Its other doublets are [[razzo]], also inherited, and [[rai]] from Occitan.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The same word is [[fr|rai]], [[oc|rai]], [[ca|raig]], [[es|rayo]], [[pt|raio]], [[sc|raiu|t=lightning]] and the feminine [[ro|rază]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Its meanings grew from “rod”: something that starts from a centre and tapers outwards, like the spoke of a wheel or a ray of the sun.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini connects it with [[la|rādīx|t=root]], from [[ine-pro|*wrād-|t=branch, root]], with a short-vowel variant seen in [[grc|ῥάδαμνος|tr=rhádamnos|t=shoot, branch]].^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan finds this unlikely because the meanings differ, and sees no clear root for it.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''ragio'' in Bondie Dietaiuti, in the first half of the 13th century, for a ray of light;^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|15) ''raggio'' is in Chiaro Davanzati in the same century.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|15) Bondie Dietaiuti says the lady's face “splende più che ragio”, shines brighter than a sunbeam.^(GDLI|15)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses the word for sunlight itself, and for the radius of a circle; a Bolognese record of 1287 has ''raço'' for sunlight.^(DELI 1999) In the ''Paradiso'' the ''raggio'' is also divine light and grace.^(GRADIT 2003) Technical senses came in the 16th and 17th centuries: the parts of pulleys and levers (1567, 1582) and the spokes of a wheel (1641).^(DELI 1999) John Florio records the figurative “flash, glimmer” in 1598, as in ''un raggio di speranza''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ Physics gave the word its modern senses of a beam of radiation or particles, with ''raggi X'', ''raggi gamma'' and ''raggi cosmici''; colloquially ''i raggi'' is an X-ray examination.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The sense “distance around a point”, as in ''nel raggio di due chilometri'', is recorded in 1952.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 13th century – Bondie Dietaiuti uses ''ragio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses ''raggio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1287 – Bolognese ''raço'' “sunlight” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the radius of a circle.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1598 – Florio records the figurative “glimmer”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1641 – The word is used for the spokes of a wheel.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1952 – The sense “distance around a point” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – The sense “beam of particles” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ray]] or [[m|en|beam]] of light: ''Un raggio di luna illuminava la stanza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Sunlight, daylight: ''ai primi raggi'', at first light.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|glimmer]], a flash: ''un raggio di speranza''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(physics)'' A beam of electromagnetic waves or particles, ''(in the plural, colloquial)'' an [[m|en|X-ray]] examination.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(geometry)'' The [[m|en|radius]] of a circle or sphere.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The area around a place up to a given distance, ''(figurative)'' a range, scope: ''Non c'era nessuno nel raggio di un chilometro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|spoke]] of a wheel; each of the arms radiating from a centre, as the wings of a prison.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[raggiare]]

+ * [[raggiante]]

+ * [[raggiato]]

+ * [[raggiera]]

+ * [[irraggiare]]

+ * [[irraggiamento]]

+ * [[raggioso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[radio]]

+ * [[razzo]]

+ * [[rai]]

+ * [[razza]]

+ * [[la|radius]]

+ * [[fr|rayon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In central Italy, especially the Marche and Romagna, ''raggio'' is also a small irrigation ditch or stream, a separate development of the Latin word.^(GDLI|15, 321) DEI notes that ''radius'' meant a ditch in 11th-century Tuscan documents, the source of place names such as Raggio and Raggiolo.^(DEI|3197) Common phrases are ''raggio d'azione'' (“range”), ''a largo raggio'' (“wide-ranging”) and ''raggio verde'' (the green flash at sunset).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}