bofonchiare

Forms

bofonchiare (first-person singular present bofónchio, first-person singular past historic bofonchiài, past participle bofonchiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Older variants are bifonchiare, bufonchiare and bonfochiare.^[2][3][4] Popular speech also has sbofonchiare.^[4]

Etymology

It is a verb formed from Italian bofonchio + -are, from the Tuscan noun for the hornet, so first “to act like a hornet, to buzz”.^{[5][6][7][8][1]} The noun goes back to Vulgar Latin *bufŭnculus, a diminutive.^[5][6][9]

DELI derives it from Latin bufō, a regional variant of bubō (“owl”), which seems to have named two animals, a large frog and a wild mouse.^[5] Sabatini–Coletti takes the classical būfo (“toad”).^[9] Nocentini starts from a Vulgar Latin *bufus, an insect that pesters oxen, recorded in the oblique form bufis in the 6th-century Latin translation of Dioscorides.^[6] If that word belongs with Latin bōs (“ox”), its ⟨f⟩ is a dissimilated ⟨b⟩ after the initial ⟨b⟩, as in bifolco and bufalo.^[6] Prati linked the Lucchese and Pistoiese names of the buzzing hornet with a word for the owl.^[2]

In the end the word is imitative of the sound: the LEI files it among the derivatives of an onomatopoeic root *bof(f)- / *buf(f)- for a blow or a puff.^[5][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Pisan translation of Albertano's moral treatises, before 1287–1288: “the wise and temperate man will not grumble” when he is punished (L'uomo savio e temperato non bofonchierà, per essere gastigato).^[10][11] DELI dates its record to about 1300.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed close to the first one: to grumble half aloud, puffing, without complaining openly.^[10][3] In the 16th century Varchi described it among the words for someone who, displeased, does not dare complain loudly but mutters to himself, writing it bufonchia beside brontola and borbotta.^[3] Cellini tells how he and his companions rose from the table bofonchiando.^[3][11]

Tommaseo noted that it mostly refers to inarticulate sounds that show disapproval or discontent, and that bofonchiare was by then more common than bifonchiare.^[11] Berni used the old phrase pigliare il bofonchiello for looking sulky.^[2] Modern Italian also uses it transitively, “to mutter something”.^[8][4]

Timeline

• Before 1288 – The Pisan translation of Albertano's treatises has bofonchierà.^[10]
• c. 1300 – DELI's date for the first record.^[5]
• 16th century – Varchi lists bufonchiare among the verbs for muttering.^[3]
• 1726 – The base noun bofonchio “hornet” is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To grumble or mutter under one's breath, often with a huff: Il nonno bofonchiava contro il tempo.^{[8][12][9][1]}
2. (transitive) To say something in a mumble: Ha bofonchiato una scusa ed è uscito.^[8][12][4]

Word family

• bofonchiamento
• bofonchio
• sbofonchiare

Related words

• borbottare
• brontolare

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 156
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier