esplosione

Forms

esplosione f (plural esplosioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin explōsiō (“driving off by clapping”), from explōdō (“to drive off the stage by clapping, to reject”), a compound of ex- and plōdō (“to clap”), the old form of plaudō.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In Latin the noun apparently meant the driving of a play off the stage.^[6][7] GRADIT treats it instead as an Italian derivative of esplodere with the suffix -ione, and Sabatini–Coletti as a borrowing of French explosion.^[8][9]

The modern sense “bursting” was not Latin: it was taken from French, where the noun is recorded from 1581 and the verb exploser (“to blow up”) from 1801.^[2][3][8] DEI also credits French with the figurative sense, an outburst of joy or grief.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Zingarelli date the first record to 1677, in the extended sense of a sudden, intense outburst;^[8][4][2] DELI's first record is Antonio Cocchi (1748), for the violent reaction of explosives, with a strong release of gas and heat.^[8][4][2] Cocchi praises the great advantage that gunpowder, with its very powerful esplosione, has given the art of war.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century esplosione was a term of physics and chemistry, and the verb esplodere at first meant “to dispel” (before 1758).^[2] Tommaseo marked the word as non-Tuscan and rejected its figurative use: in his view one should not speak of an esplosione of anger, joy or applause.^[11] The figurative sense won all the same, and the verb gained the meaning “to burst out in violent feeling” in the 20th century (Sbarbaro).^[2][8]

Modern Italian uses the word for the noise of a blast, a sudden outbreak of disease or revolt, the esplosione demografica “population explosion”, the combustion stroke of an engine, and in phonetics the release of a stop consonant.^[8][5][9]

Timeline

• 1581 – French explosion is first recorded.^[2][8]
• 1677 – Esplosione is first recorded, for a sudden outburst.^[8][4]
• 1748 – Antonio Cocchi uses it for the explosion of gunpowder.^[2]
• 1797 – Esplodere “to blow up” is recorded.^[2]
• 1834 – The adjective esplosivo is recorded; the noun follows in 1885.^[2]
• 1932 – Implosione is formed on the model of esplosione, first in phonetics.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An explosion, a violent and destructive blast: L'esplosione ha distrutto due palazzi.^[8][5][9]
2. The loud noise of such a blast: Abbiamo sentito un'esplosione in lontananza.^[8][5][12]
3. (figurative) A sudden, violent outburst of feeling: un'esplosione di rabbia.^[8][5][4]
4. (figurative) A sudden outbreak or rapid growth of something, such as a disease, a revolt or a population: l'esplosione demografica.^[8][9][12]
5. (engineering) In an internal combustion engine, the rapid burning of the fuel mixture.^[8][5][4]
6. (geology) The first phase of a volcanic eruption.^[9][12]
7. (phonetics) The release of the closure at the end of a stop consonant.^[8][9][12]

Word family

• esplosivo
• implosione

Related words

• esplodere
• esploditore
• plaudire
• applauso
• Latin explosio
• French explosion

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1544
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana