bestemmia

Forms

bestemmia f (plural bestemmie)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian biastema, Old Italian biastemia, Old Italian blastemia and Old Italian bastemmia.^[2] An old Tuscan form was Old Italian bestegna.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin blasphēmia (“slander; blasphemy”), the word of the Church writers, from Ancient Greek βλασφημία (blasphēmía, “slander, abusive speech”), reshaped after the verb bestemmiare.^[5][6][4][1] The TLIO derives the noun from the verb.^[2] DELI calls the Latin noun and verb learned loans, taken by Church Latin from Greek; the Greek word is an obscure compound of Ancient Greek φήμη (phḗmē, “speech, word”) with a first part not yet identified.^[7]

The Romance forms do not continue the Latin spelling directly but a Vulgar Latin verb with ⟨-st-⟩, Vulgar Latin *blastemāre, supported by the form Latin blastema of an inscription from Gaul and by Medieval Greek.^[8] Typical of Italo-Romance is the noun *blastemia formed beside it.^[8][9] The ⟨-st-⟩ is explained as a dissimilation of the labials by Corominas, whom the LEI follows, and as the influence of Latin aestimō (“to value, to esteem”) by Parodi and Malkiel, for whom blasphemy was felt as a lack of esteem;^[8][7] DELI explains it by the crossing of the Latin verb with some other verb.^[8][7] Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti explain the first syllable of the modern form by a crossing with bestia.^[10][9]

The verb survives as Romanian blestema, Friulian blestemâ, Old Occitan blastemar, Catalan blastomar and Spanish lastimar.^[8] The learned blasfemia is a rare doublet, and biasimare comes from the same Greek family through Occitan.^[11][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Andrea da Grosseto in 1268, a Tuscan text, for an imprecation or outrageous expression against God, the Virgin or religion.^[2][4] Bono Giamboni, before 1292, lists bestemmia among the mortal sins with murder, theft, perjury and robbery.^[7][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word more widely than today: an outrageous expression against people, an insult or slander, a curse wishing someone ill, and even a misfortune or disease.^[2] Dante speaks of a bestemmia di fatto, an offence to God by deeds rather than words.^[2][12]

From Tasso (before 1595) it also meant an absurd statement, a use purists still rejected in 1855.^[7] Catholic theology distinguishes heretical, simple and imperative blasphemy, and immediate blasphemy, against God, from mediate, against the Virgin, the saints and sacred things.^[6]

The verb bestemmiare is recorded as biastemare in the 13th century and as bestemmiare in Dante (1300–1313), who also uses it for “to curse”;^[7] Francesco da Barberino has it for “to swear” in 1314, and Carducci for “to speak a language badly”.^[7]

Timeline

• 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses the word.^[2][4]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses bestemmia.^[7]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the verb bestemmiare.^[7]
• Early 14th century – Bestematore appears in the statutes of the disciplinati of Maddaloni.^[7]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses the learned form blasfemia.^[11]
• Before 1420 – Saviozzo uses biastema.^[7]
• Before 1595 – Tasso uses bestemmia for an absurd statement.^[7]
• 1855 – Purists reject that wider use.^[7]
• Before 1907 – Carducci uses bestemmiare for “to speak a language badly”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. blasphemy: an insulting word or phrase against God, the saints or sacred things;^[5][10][4] (colloquial) a curse or oath: gli scappò una bestemmia quando si schiacciò il dito.^[5][10][4]
2. (by extension) An offensive statement about people or things that deserve respect.^[5][10][4]
3. A grossly wrong or absurd statement, a howler: chiamare capolavoro quel quadro è una bestemmia.^[5][9][6]

Word family

• bestemmiare
• bestemmiatore
• bestemmievole
• bestemmione

Related words

• blasfemia
• blasfemo
• biasimare
• Latin blasphemia

Usage notes

Colloquially one tira or stacca una bestemmia (lets fly an oath).^[5][10] A familiar synonym is moccolo.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 173
9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 158
12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 192