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esplodere

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word esplodere

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Semantic loan
First attested
before 1758, Antonio Cocchi
Borrowed from
Latin explodo
Ultimate origin
Latin plaudō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin plaudo
Latin explodo
Italian esplodere
From the same root
Latin complodo ← plaudo

Pronunciation

  • /esˈplɔ.de.re/[1]

Forms

esplodere (first-person singular present esplòdo, first-person singular past historic esplòsi, past participle esplòso, auxiliary (in the intransitive sense "to explode") èssere or (transitively or in the intransitive sense "to fire", of a weapon) avére)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowed from Latin explōdere (“to drive off by clapping, to hiss off the stage”), a compound of ex- (“out”) and plōdō, an old variant of plaudō (“to clap”).[2][3][4][5][6] The sense “to burst” was taken from French, where French explosion (1581), French explosif (1691) and the verb French exploser (1801) had it;[2][3][7] Prati thought “esplosione” itself might come from French.[8]

The Latin verb plaudō probably goes back to Proto-Italic *plaude- (“to clap the hands”); de Vaan, after Oettinger and Meiser, derives it from a noun Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂u- (“palm of the hand”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in Antonio Cocchi (before 1758) and Francesco Algarotti (before 1764), in the Latin sense “to dispel, to do away with”: Cocchi praises whoever widens human knowledge enough to esplodere an old and universal error.[2][9][4]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive esplodere “to burst” (of a mine or a bomb) is recorded in D'Alberti's dictionary in 1797, and the transitive “to fire a shot” in Alessandro Volta (before 1827).[2] Esplosione is earlier, from 1748 (Cocchi), and esplosivo is used figuratively in 1792 and literally in 1834; the noun esplosivo “explosive substance” appears in 1885.[2][3] Esploso “burst” is from 1831; as a noun, an exploded drawing of a machine, it follows English exploded.[2][3]

The figurative sense, to burst out in violent feelings, is in Camillo Sbarbaro (1920–1948).[2] Today the verb is also used of anything that breaks out suddenly and strongly, a heatwave, a fashion or a crisis, and in computing of decompressing a file.[4][10][7] Implodere (1983), implosione and implosivo were formed by changing the prefix.[3]

Timeline

  • 1748 – Antonio Cocchi uses esplosione.[2]
  • Before 1758 – Cocchi uses esplodere for “to dispel”.[2]
  • 1797 – D'Alberti's dictionary records it for “to burst”.[2]
  • 1801 – French exploser is recorded.[2]
  • Before 1827 – Alessandro Volta uses it for “to fire a shot”.[2]
  • 1885 – Esplosivo “explosive substance” is recorded.[2]
  • 1917 – Esploditore “blasting machine” is recorded.[2]
  • 1920–1948 – Camillo Sbarbaro uses it for outbursts of feeling.[2]
  • 1983 – Implodere is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To explode, to blow up: Durante la notte è esplosa una bombola del gas.[4][10][7]
  2. (intransitive, figurative) To break out suddenly and with force: In agosto è esploso il caldo.[4][10][7]
  3. (intransitive, figurative) Of feelings, to burst out; of a person, to lose one's temper or exclaim violently: A un certo punto è esploso e se n'è andato.[4][10][11]
  4. (transitive) To fire (a shot) from a gun: L'agente ha esploso due colpi in aria.[4][10][5]
  5. (computing) To decompress (a file).[4][7]
  6. (archaic) To dispel (an error or prejudice).[4][9]

Word family

  • esplosione
  • esplosivo
  • esplodente
  • esploditore
  • esploso
  • implodere

Usage notes

In the sense “to blow up” the verb takes essere (la mina è esplosa); used of a firearm it takes avere.[11][1] Besides /esˈplɔdere/ with open /ɔ/, a pronunciation with closed /o/ is also heard.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 409
  9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  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 Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ Canepari, Luciano, DiPI: Dizionario di pronuncia italiana, online ed., dipionline.it

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Esplodere.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/esplodere. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·