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fame

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word fame

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
early 13th century, Ritmo cassinese
Inherited from
Latin fames
Ultimate origin
Latin famēs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fames
French faim
Italian fame

Pronunciation

Forms

fame f (plural fami)[1] Old Italian forms include fam, famme and fami.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin famēs (“hunger; famine”).[3][4][5][1] In early Latin the noun belonged to the fifth declension and later moved to the third.[6][7]

The same word is French faim, Occitan fam, Catalan fam, Romanian foame and Vegliote fum.[4][8] Logudorese fàmine, Spanish hambre and Portuguese fome instead continue a form Vulgar Latin *famen declined like lūmen (“light”).[4][6][8] The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance neuter noun of this shape, /ˈɸamen/, behind all the Romance forms.[9]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.[3][4][10] Walde and Hofmann suggested a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰH- and a link with Latin fatīgō (“to tire”), but de Vaan finds the comparison too vague in sound and meaning.[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Ritmo cassinese, from the beginning of the 13th century.[2] DELI's first date is Guido delle Colonne, before 1290, for the need and wish to eat;[3][5] GRADIT gives the same date.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the first records the word meant both hunger and the lack of food, famine, and figuratively a strong desire.[2] Onesto da Bologna uses it for an ardent longing before 1303, and Dante calls the tower where Ugolino starved la torre della fame.[3][2] In the Inferno the she-wolf dopo 'l pasto ha più fame che pria (after eating is hungrier than before).[11]

Phrases describe hunger and poverty: morire di fame “to starve” and figuratively “to be very poor”, morto di fame “wretch, pauper”, salario da fame “starvation wage”, fare la fame;[5][12][13] brutto come la fame and lungo come la fame recall the Virgilian monster Fames.[5][12][13] The modern sciopero della fame is the hunger strike, and la fame nel mondo the undernourishment of poor countries.[5][14]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – The Ritmo cassinese uses the word.[2]
  • Before 1290 – Guido delle Colonne uses fame for hunger.[3]
  • Before 1303 – Onesto da Bologna uses it for ardent desire.[3]
  • 1306 – Affamare “to starve” is recorded.[4]
  • Before 1353 – Boccaccio uses famelico, taken from Latin.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. hunger, the need and wish to eat: Abbiamo camminato tutto il giorno e ora ho una fame terribile.[5][12][15][1]
  2. Lack of food; famine, undernourishment: la fame nel mondo.[5][12][15]
  3. Extreme poverty: una paga da fame.[5][15]
  4. (figurative) A strong desire, craving: Ha sempre avuto fame di successo.[5][15][13]

Word family

  • famelico
  • affamare
  • affamato
  • affamatore
  • sfamare

Usage notes

Avere fame is “to be hungry”;[12][13] una fame da lupi is a ravenous hunger.[12][13] La fame è cattiva consigliera (hunger is a bad counsellor) is a proverb.[13]

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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1591
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

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

“Fame.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/fame. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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