fantasia

Forms

fantasia f (plural fantasie)^[1] Old spellings include Old Italian fantaxia, fantasya and fantesia.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin phantasia (“fancy, imagination”), which is from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “appearance; imagination”).^[3][4][5][1] The Greek noun comes from φαντάζομαι (phantázomai, “to imagine”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to show; to appear”), which is of Indo-European origin.^[4][3][6] Italian keeps the Greek stress on the ending ⟨-ìa⟩, as it often does in abstract nouns.^[7] The same word is French fantaisie and Spanish fantasía, and it spread through the European languages.^[4]

DEI adds that the Latin verb phantasiāre lived on in western Romance, as in Old French pantaisier.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Novellino (1281–1300), in the sense “the faculty of imagination”.^[3] The TLIO's first record is in the late 13th-century Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva, where it means an idea or picture made by the imagination.^[2] Dante uses it for the faculty that serves the intellect in the Convivio, and in the Paradiso says “if our imaginations are low for such a height, it is no wonder”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used fantasia for an imaginary creature born of fear, for a whim, and for thoughts that stray from reason.^[2] Later came “a rare thing, an exotic object” (1578, Sassetti) and “elaborate decoration” (1550, Vasari).^[3]

In music fantasia named lute pieces in Petrucci's tablatures of 1507–1509, and Vincenzo Galilei used it in 1584 for an improvised variation on someone else's theme.^[3][10] English borrowed this sense in 1724 and German in 1732, and French gave its own fantaisie the same sense in 1703.^[11][12] In fashion abito di fantasia was a fanciful dress in 1831, and in the 20th century fantasia came to follow a noun with no preposition, as in stoffe fantasia, brightly patterned fabrics.^[3]

Fantasia is also the display of North African horsemen with dances and gunfire, which DEI explains it as Arabic, borrowed from Spanish fantasía, and made known in Europe by a picture of Delacroix (1832).^[13] DEI also says that the word passed into Arabic with the sense “desire” at the time of the Crusades.^[8] Fantasista is French fantaisiste.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1281–1300 – Fantasia appears in the Novellino.^[3]
• Late 13th century – Bonvesin de la Riva uses it in Milanese.^[2]
• 1507–1509 – Petrucci's lute tablatures use it for a kind of composition.^[3][10]
• 1550 – Vasari uses it for elaborate decoration.^[3]
• 1584 – Vincenzo Galilei uses it for an improvised musical variation.^[3][11]
• Before 1704 – Fantasioso is recorded.^[3]
• 1724 – English fantasia is first recorded, for a musical composition.^[11][12]
• 1909 – Fantasista is recorded as an adjective.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. imagination, the power of the mind to create images or ideas, real or not: un bambino con tanta fantasia.^[5][14][7]
2. A product of the imagination, a fantasy or daydream: vivere di fantasie.^[5][14][7]
3. A groundless notion or invention: Quello che racconta è tutta fantasia.^[5][14][15]
4. A whim, a sudden wish: Le è presa la fantasia di andare al mare.^[5][14][7]
5. An inventive creation or decorative motif, and a bright, fancy pattern on fabric or clothing, also after a noun: una camicia fantasia.^[5][14][7]
6. (music) A fantasia, a composition in free form, or a medley of tunes from operas.^[14][16][7]
7. (psychoanalysis) A conscious or unconscious fantasy.^[5][15]
8. (ethnology) A display of dances, songs or horsemanship among some peoples of North Africa.^[7][15]

Word family

• fantasioso
• fantasista
• fantasiare

Related words

• fantascienza
• fantastico
• fantasticare
• fantasticheria
• fantasma
• Latin phantasia
• French fantaisie

Usage notes

Lavorare di fantasia means to imagine or suppose things that are not real.^[14][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1594
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
11. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1595
14. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli