bugiardo

Forms

bugiardo (feminine bugiarda, masculine plural bugiardi, feminine plural bugiarde)^[1] Old Italian forms include busardo, buxardo, bosardo and busgiardo.^[2] The northern bogiadro is in Gerardo Patecchio in the 13th century, and Tommaseo still lists bugiadro as an old form.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Italian bugia (“lie”) + -ardo, as GRADIT, GDLI and Wiktionary analyse it.^[5][6][1] DELI, Devoto and the TLIO describe it more exactly as the Tuscan adaptation of northern Old Italian bugiadro, with the pejorative ending ⟨-ardo⟩ in place of ⟨-adro⟩.^[3][7][8][2] The northern word goes back to the Medieval Latin agent noun bausiator (“deceiver”), found in Ratherius in the 10th century.^[3][8][7]

The noun bugia is Old Occitan bauzia (“deceit”), which goes back to Proto-Germanic *bausja- (“evil”), the source of Old High German bōsi and German böse.^[3][9][10] Zingarelli and Gabrielli start instead from bauzios (“deceitful”), an adjective formed on the noun.^[11][12] Meyer-Lübke set the adjective beside bauzaire (“deceiver”), the source of Old Italian buziero in old Venetian texts.^[10][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Tuscan translation by Andrea da Grosseto of 1268, with the sense “that tells lies”.^[2][11] DELI gives the noun “liar” from the 13th-century Fiore di virtù and the adjective from Bartolomeo da San Concordio (before 1347), who writes: Il dimonio è bugiardo e padre della bugia (“The devil is a liar and the father of lies”).^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Dante says the same of the devil: ch'elli è bugiardo, e padre di menzogna (“that he is a liar, and the father of falsehood”).^[6] He also extended the word to things that deceive, in al tempo de li dèi falsi e bugiardi (“in the time of the false and lying gods”).^[5][8][3] Old Italian used it for what deceives the senses and for a traitor.^[2] Boccaccio has the sense “false, mendacious” in the Decameron (1348–1353).^[3]

A pera bugiarda is a variety of pear: Treccani and GRADIT say it cracks easily, Zingarelli and Gabrielli that it looks unripe when it is ripe.^{[5][14][11][12]} In sport a risultato bugiardo is a score that does not reflect the run of the game.^[8][11] The derivative sbugiardare “to show up as a liar” dates from the 16th century.^[9] French borrowed bugiarder from Italian in the 16th century, and English had bugiard from before 1596.^[13][15]

Timeline

• 10th century – Medieval Latin bausiator is recorded in Ratherius.^[3]
• 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses bugiardo.^[2][11]
• 13th century – Gerardo Patecchio has the northern bogiadro.^[3]
• 13th century – The Fiore di virtù uses bugiardo as a noun.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “vain, deceptive”.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “false, mendacious”.^[3]
• Before 1596 – English bugiard is recorded.^[15]
• Before 1742 – Bugiarderia “lie” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. lying, that tells lies, habitually or on one occasion: Non fidarti di lui, è un ragazzo bugiardo.^{[5][8][16][1]}
2. False, untrue: promesse bugiarde.^{[5][8][16][11]}
3. (literary) Deceptive, illusory.^[5][8][11]
4. (sport) Of a result, not reflecting how the game went.^[8][11]
5. (archaic) Disloyal, treacherous.^[5][16]

Noun

1. liar: Sei proprio una bugiarda, lo sapevi già.^{[5][8][16][1]}

Word family

• sbugiardare
• bugiarderia
• bugiardaggine
• bugiardamente
• bugiardino

Related words

• bugia
• Old Occitan bauzia

Usage notes

Dare del bugiardo a qualcuno is to call someone a liar.^[5][8][16] A proverb says il bugiardo deve avere buona memoria, the liar needs a good memory not to contradict himself.^[4][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 630
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse