bombo

Forms

bombo m (plural bombi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin bombus (“humming, booming”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, buzzing”), a word of imitative origin.^[2][3][4][5] Latin had it from Ennius on, and the glosses also have bombō (“drone”).^[1][6] The insect name comes through the scientific Latin genus name New Latin Bombus, given for the deep buzz of the insect in flight.^[7][8][9]

The LEI files the Italian word under an imitative root ⟨bomb-⟩, ⟨bromb-⟩, ⟨bum-⟩, which can arise anew in many languages, and notes that the Romance forms cannot be told apart from continuations of the Latin word: compare Romanian bombăni (“to mutter”) and Romanian bombar (“bumblebee”).^[10] Zingarelli calls the word imitative.^[11] The same Latin word lies behind bomba and rimbombare.^[12][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's first record is in a Milanese text by Visconti, before 1499, with the sense “dull, rumbling noise”.^[10] GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to 1581, and the LEI cites Tasso from 1592.^[3][11][10]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries bombo was above all the boom of artillery: Tasso writes assorda il bombo e il tuono (the boom and the thunder deafen).^[13][7] Marino uses the plural for the joyful shouts of a crowd, and in early music bombo was the rapid repetition of one note on the same pitch.^[13] The sense “humming, buzzing” of bees goes back to the Latin and Greek word.^[11][5]

The insect sense came with zoology: Sabatini–Coletti dates it to 1904, and Pascoli and Gozzano already write of bombi among the flowers.^[8][7] Today the literary senses survive beside the everyday name of the bumblebee.^[4][3]

Timeline

• Before 1499 – Visconti uses bombo for a rumbling noise.^[10]
• 1581 – Date given by GRADIT and Zingarelli for bombo “rumble”.^[3][11]
• 1592 – Tasso uses bombo for the boom of guns.^[10][7]
• 1904 – Bombo is recorded as the name of the bumblebee.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A dull, deep rumble, a rimbombo: il bombo lontano dei cannoni.^[3][4][11]
2. (literary) A deep buzz, especially of bees.^[3][11][5]
3. (zoology) bumblebee: any of the stout, hairy bees of the genus Bombus, usually striped black and yellow, which can sting painfully.^[3][4][5]
4. (zoology, capitalised) Bombo: the genus Bombus of the family Apidae.^[3][4]

Word family

• rimbombo

Related words

• bomba
• rimbombare
• bombarda
• Latin bombus

Usage notes

A separate word bombo belongs to children's language: it means a drink, especially water, and is recorded from the first half of the 14th century in Tuscany and many dialects.^[14][15] GRADIT dates it before 1444, and also gives it the sense of a sweet (a bonbon), said by or to children.^[3][16] It comes from an imitative base for the movement of the lips, like Latin bua for asking a drink, and survives in the old saying non mancare il bombo e la pappa (to lack nothing).^[15][13] The dictionaries give it as a separate headword (bombo²), regional and central Italian.^[3][4][5]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 f g h i j 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 d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
7. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 302
8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 557
10. ^ 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, 827
11. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 339
16. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it