entry
voglio
/ˈvɔʎʎo/Italian first-person singular present of “to want”
From Latin, through Italian vol- (want).
Word Ancestry
A small spelling change hides a surprisingly dramatic verb. Italian voglio belongs to volere, descended from Latin volēre, a verb that could mean not only “want” but also “be willing”—the mental step from desire to consent. The double ʎ sound in /ˈvɔʎʎo/ is Italian’s way of showing that the consonant has palatalized, producing the liquid sound heard in words such as famiglia. The supplied reference calls vol a clipping from French vol “flight,” but that is a separate French word and does not explain Italian voglio; the reliable connection is the Italian verb volere and its Latin predecessor. So when an Italian speaker says voglio, the word carries an old Roman idea: not merely “I desire,” but “I am willing.”
The Story
A small spelling change hides a surprisingly dramatic verb. Italian voglio belongs to volere, descended from Latin volēre, a verb that could mean not only “want” but also “be willing”—the mental step from desire to consent. The double ʎ sound in /ˈvɔʎʎo/ is Italian’s way of showing that the consonant has palatalized, producing the liquid sound heard in words such as famiglia. The supplied reference calls vol a clipping from French vol “flight,” but that is a separate French word and does not explain Italian voglio; the reliable connection is the Italian verb volere and its Latin predecessor. So when an Italian speaker says voglio, the word carries an old Roman idea: not merely “I desire,” but “I am willing.”
Kin & Kindred
From 'vol-'·want, wish, be willing
Cognates
Related words in other languages
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Wiktionary