levare Italian · revision 39153

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1211, Florentine account book|origins=ine-pro *h₁legʷʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /leˈva.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''levare''' (first-person singular present lèvo, first-person singular past historic levài, past participle levàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had forms with the diphthong, such as ''lievo'' and ''lieva'', and an infinitive ''lievare''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Prati 1951|588)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|levō|t=to lighten; to raise]], a verb formed from [[m|la|levis|t=light]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The verb is found in every Romance language: [[fr|lever]], [[oc|levar]], [[ca|llevar]], [[es|llevar]] and [[pt|levar]] “to carry”, [[sc|lear]] “to carry” and [[ro|lua]] “to take”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance verb with the senses “remove”, “take”, “raise” and “carry”, and counts “remove” and “take”, found in Sardinian and Romanian as well as in the west, among the oldest.^(DÉRom) In Romanian, southern Italian, Dalmatian, Logudorese, Spanish and Portuguese the verb means “take” or “take away”.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin adjective goes back to [[ine-pro|*h₁legʷʰ-u-|t=light]], with the variant [[ine-pro|*h₁legʰ-u-]] that Latin continues.^(de Vaan 2008) DELI notes that the Latin verb already meant “to get up from bed” in the Rule of Saint Benedict.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is a Florentine account book of 1211, with the sense “to take away, remove”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The reflexive “to get up from bed” is in Giacomo da Lentini and “to go away” in Cielo d'Alcamo, both before 1250.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to raise, lift” is in Iacopone da Todi (before 1306), and Dante has the pronominal ''levarsi'' for the rising of a star or a wind.^(DELI 1999) From this came ''levante'', the point where the sun rises, the east, and then the Levant, the lands east of Italy (Boccaccio, 1348–53); the word passed to French and Spanish.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) The drawbridge, ''ponte levatoio'', is in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century, from Medieval Latin ''pons levatorius''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Old uses now gone include enlisting soldiers, taking passengers on board, and lifting a child from the font at baptism, that is, standing godparent.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ DEI records regional senses: in Tuscan “to lighten”, in dialects the rising of bread dough, as with French ''se lever'', and in the south “to take a wife”, as with Latin ''tollere uxorem''.^(DEI|2216) ''Levata di scudi'', a sudden revolt, follows French ''levée de boucliers'' (from 1835), which goes back to the way Roman troops showed opposition to their commander.^(DELI 1999) In modern Italian ''levare'' “to remove” is common in Tuscany and the centre, where other regions prefer ''togliere''; the infinitive used as a noun is the rising of a star and, in music, the upbeat (''in levare'').^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1211 – A Florentine account book uses ''levare'' “to remove”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''levarsi'' “to get up”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' has ''ponte levatoio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni writes ''sol levante'' and ''levante'' “east”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses ''levare'' “to raise”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''levarsi'' of a rising star.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''Levante'' for the eastern Mediterranean and ''levatura''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1551 – ''Levatrice'' “midwife” appears in a Florentine document.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1835 – Carlo Botta writes ''levata d'insegne''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1863 – ''Levataccia'', getting up very early, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|raise]], to [[m|en|lift]]: ''Levò il calice verso gli invitati.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To take away, to [[m|en|remove]]; to take off clothing: ''Leva i libri dal tavolo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To pull out, to [[m|en|extract]]: ''Domani mi levano un dente.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To abolish or lift a ban, a tax, a sitting: ''levare il divieto''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To raise one's voice in prayer, praise or complaint: ''levare una supplica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(hunting)'' To flush game.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To [[m|en|enlist]] soldiers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''levarsi'': to get up, especially from bed: ''Mi levo presto d'estate.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''levarsi'': of the sun, a wind and the like, to rise.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The rising of a star: ''al levar del sole''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ # ''(music)'' The [[m|en|upbeat]], the weak beat of the bar shown by the conductor's hand.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[allevare]]

+ * [[leva]]

+ * [[levante]]

+ * [[levata]]

+ * [[levatrice]]

+ * [[levatura]]

+ * [[rilevare]]

+ * [[sollevare]]

+ * [[levantino]]

+ * [[levataccia]]

+ * [[levatoio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lieve]]

+ * [[la|levis]]

+ * [[fr|lever]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''levare le tende'', to leave, ''levare di mezzo'', to get rid of (and euphemistically to kill), ''levare il disturbo'', to take one's leave, and ''levarsi il pane di bocca'', to make great sacrifices for someone.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}