arsura

Forms

arsura f (plural arsure)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ārsūra (“burning”),^[1][2][3][4] a noun formed from ārsus (“burnt”), the past participle of ardeō (“to burn”) (the source of ardere).^[2][1] The Late Latin word is used by medical writers from Pseudo-Apuleius on, in the phrase for heartburn.^[5][6]

It continues by inheritance in Romanian arsură, Friulian arsùre, Old French arsure, Old Occitan arsura and Catalan arsura, but not in the Iberian Peninsula.^[6][5][7] In early Italian it competed with the more literary ardura.^[6][5]

Wiktionary connects the verb with āridus (“dry”), with the verb ending -eō.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, about 1230–1250, in a Tuscan copy.^[8] The TLIO's first sense is fire, flame, burning;^[8][9] DELI's first record, in Bonagiunta before 1257, has the sense “excessive heat, dryness”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

From fire and burning the word passed to the dry, scorching heat of the air and to the burning thirst of fever;^[8][10] Cielo d'Alcamo has com’omo ch’ave arsura “like a man who is thirsty”.^[8][10] The LEI dates the sense of a burning dryness of the throat from the end of the 13th century, in the Fatti di Cesare.^[6] In medicine Old Italian also used it for a burn.^[8]

Figuratively it meant the burning of desire or passion, which the LEI explains by analogy with ardere;^[6][11][8] Petrarch writes l’arsura che m’incende.^[6][11][8] The phrase mettere ad arsura, “to set on fire”, survives only as archaic.^[11][4] Goldoni used arsura jokingly for being penniless.^[12] The word is alive in the dialects from Liguria to the Abruzzi.^[6]

Timeline

• About 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses arsura.^[8]
• Before 1257 – Bonagiunta uses it for excessive heat and dryness.^[9]
• End of the 13th century – The Fatti di Cesare use it for a burning dryness of the throat.^[6]
• About 1450 – Old Salentine arsura is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Intense, stifling heat of the air: l’arsura di luglio.^{[3][4][10][1]}
2. By extension, drought, dryness of the land.^[3][13][1]
3. A burning dryness of the throat from thirst or fever.^{[3][4][12][1]}
4. (literary) Ardour, passion, especially love.^[3]
5. (archaic) Fire, a blaze;^[4][14][13] mettere ad arsura, to set on fire.^[4][14][13]
6. (archaic, humorous) Utter poverty, having no money at all.^[12]

Related words

• ardere
• arso
• ardore
• arsione
• Latin arsura

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 307
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 1448
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana