assillo

Forms

assillo m (plural assilli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin asīlus (“gadfly”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} In Latin it competed with oestrus, from Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oîstros), as the name of the botfly of cattle, and by the 5th century it named any winged stinging insect that tormented herds;^[5][6] Servius notes that the common word for it was tabanus.^[5][6] The figurative sense of a goad or excitement is already Latin.^[5]

The word is typically Italian: the doubled ⟨ss⟩ is found only in Italy, and the dialects have many forms, such as Genoese asgilu, while central Italy has the ⟨arzillo⟩ type, the same word as the standard arzillo “sprightly”.^[5][7][3][8] In the south it took the figurative sense: Sicilian siddu means “annoyance”.^[7] Outside Italy the sources cite only the derived verb Old Occitan izalar (mid-13th century), used of cows running about when stung by the gadfly, and Old French azelles “gadflies” (before 1376).^[5][7]

Meyer-Lübke found the relation of the Italian ⟨ss⟩ and ⟨ll⟩ to the single consonants of the Latin word unclear, and following Pușcariu suggested that the ⟨r⟩ of ⟨arzillo⟩ came from ardeō (“to burn”).^[8] The LEI explains ⟨arzillo⟩ as a dissimilation of the doubled consonant, perhaps under the influence of ardente.^[5] Devoto saw a crossing with assiliō (“to leap at”), and an expressive doubling.^[9]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown, and Nocentini finds no comparison outside Latin.^[2][3][10] De Vaan takes it as a borrowing: an intervocalic ⟨s⟩ that escaped rhotacism points to an older ⟨*ss⟩ or ⟨*ts⟩, which should have left a long vowel before it;^[10][1] Wiktionary objects that ⟨*ass-ī-los⟩ would regularly give the attested form.^[10][1] The OLD and Battisti and Alessio consider an Etruscan source, pointing to Etruscan personal names.^[11][7] De Vaan finds the Greek word for the gadfly too different in form to be related.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Fiore, a Florentine text of the last quarter of the 13th century, in the sense “sting, goad”.^[12] Boccaccio (1340–1342) has the insect: la detta Giunone mise uno assillo alla detta vacca, e fecela andare fuggendo perfino in Egitto “Juno set a gadfly on the cow and made her flee as far as Egypt”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The Old Italian record has the forms assillo and asiglio, and already the figurative sense of torment.^[12] The insect stings through the Renaissance poets: Pulci describes wounds spurting blood that were made by something other than gadflies, and Ariosto has a horse, an ass and a bull running in circles quando lo punge il fiero asilo “when the fierce gadfly stings it”.^[6] In 1717 Salvini used assillo for an incitement or goad.^[2][13] Tommaseo recorded aver l'assillo “to be tormented by the gadfly”, said of cattle and figuratively of people.^[13]

The verb assillare first meant “to be agitated, to fret” in the 14th century, and “to torment” only from 1863;^[2][3] assillante “nagging, troublesome” followed in 1934.^[2][3] In the dialects the gadfly's sting gave words for liveliness and desire: Genoese avèi l'axillo means to be seized by excited merriment or a whim, and in eastern Liguria and Calabria derived verbs say that a cow is in heat.^[5]

Today the insect sense is dated, and the word lives mainly in the sense of a thought or worry that gives no rest.^[14][4][15]

Timeline

• Last quarter of the 13th century – The Fiore has assillo “sting, goad”.^[12]
• 1340–1342 – Boccaccio uses assillo for the gadfly.^[2][6]
• 14th century – Assillare “to fret” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1717 – Salvini uses assillo for a goad or incitement.^[2]
• 1863 – The fifth Crusca dictionary records assillare “to torment”.^[2]
• 1934 – Palazzeschi uses assillante.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology, dated) The common name of various two-winged insects, such as botflies and horseflies (tafani), that sting domestic animals; a gadfly.^{[4][14][16][17][1]}
2. (figurative) A persistent, tormenting thought or worry, or a pressing desire that gives no rest: Viveva con l'assillo delle scadenze.^{[4][14][16][17][1]}
3. Avere l'assillo: to be restless, to fret.^[18]

Word family

• assillare
• assillante

Related words

• arzillo
• tafano
• Latin asilus

Usage notes

Assillo is also the first person singular present of assillare, the verb formed from the noun.^[2][3] Sabatini–Coletti give tarlo as a synonym of the figurative sense.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 1587
6. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 332
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
18. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli