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fascina

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word fascina

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1442 before 1442, Rinaldo degli Albizzi More words from the 15th century
Inherited from
Latin fascina
Ultimate origin
Latin fascis

Pronunciation

  • /faʃˈʃi.na/[1]

Forms

fascina f (plural fascine)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fascīna (“a bundle of sticks”), a word already in Cato, formed from fascis (“bundle”), whose Italian descendant is fascio.[2][3][4][5][6] The same word is Catalan feixina and Spanish hacina;[7][5][8] Italian passed it on as French fascine, which replaced the inherited Old French faissine, as German Faschine and as Spanish fascina.[7][5][8]

Latin fascis has a Celtic match in Old Irish basc (“necklace”) and Welsh beich (“burden”), from an Italo-Celtic word for a bundle with no known PIE etymology.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the papers of Rinaldo degli Albizzi, who died in 1442, where men “had already made many fascine”, bundles of small wood.[2][10] The TLIO cites the plural fascine from a Tuscan Bible translation of the 14th–15th century.[11]

Semantic evolution

A fascina was firewood for lighting fires, but also building material for war: Lorenzo de' Medici names fascine among the gear of a siege, and they were used to raise shelters, line fortifications and fill ditches.[10][12] The fascina incatramata, dry wood spread with tar, was set alight and thrown down on besiegers.[12] This military use is the one French borrowed in 1577, and German in the 17th century.[8] Zingarelli also records an obsolete sense “handkerchief”.[13]

Timeline

  • Before 1442 – Rinaldo degli Albizzi uses fascina.[2]
  • 1577 – French fascine is first recorded.[8]
  • 17th century – German Faschine is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A faggot, fascine: a bundle of brushwood or small sticks, used to light fires, raise shelters, or fill ditches: una pila di fascine accanto al forno.[4][14][12]

Word family

  • fascinare
  • fascinaia
  • fascinaio
  • fasciname
  • fascinata

Usage notes

A fascine means figuratively “in great quantity”.[15] The usual synonym is fastello.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1602
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  13. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  16. ^ 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

“Fascina.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/fascina. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·