fatticcio

Forms

fatticcio (feminine fatticcia, masculine plural fatticci, feminine plural fatticce)^[1]

Etymology

According to most dictionaries it is inherited from Latin factīcius (“made, artificial”).^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} Sabatini–Coletti calls it the popular counterpart of the learned fattizio.^[2] The Latin adjective is formed from factus (“made”), the past participle of faciō (“to make”), with the suffix -īcius.^[7][1][4] Wiktionary gives feticcio as its doublet, which came through French and Portuguese.^[1][8]

The same Latin word gave Old Trevisan fatìz (“strong as the devil”), Sardinian fattittu (“lazy; rotten (of fruit)”), Old French faitiz (“pretty”), Old Occitan fachitz, Spanish hechizo (“artificial; spell”) and Portuguese feitiço.^[6][8]

GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Treccani explain it instead as an Italian formation, from Italian fatto + -iccio, from the past participle of fare.^{[9][10][11][12]} Meyer-Lübke too thought the Italian adjective more likely a new formation from the participle.^[8] Tommaseo took the suffix here as an intensive.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine translation of Livy's first decade, from the first half of the 14th century, with the sense “of sturdy build”.^[14] The GDLI quotes it: Lo Latino era grande e fatticcio (“Latinus was big and sturdy”).^[5] GRADIT, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date the word only from before 1597.^[9][15][10]

Semantic evolution

Davanzati's Tacitus describes the young Germans as robusti e fatticci, “robust and thickset”.^[5][13] Baldinucci's art dictionary gave it a nuance of its own, “squat, ill-proportioned in its features”.^[5][13] Later writers used it of sturdy people, as D'Annunzio does of a man “thickset but supple” (fatticcio ma pieghevole).^[5]

Augmentative forms followed: fatticciotto from the 17th century and fatticcione from the 19th.^[6][12] Today the adjective is uncommon or literary.^[9][3][11]

Timeline

• 1300–1350 – The Florentine translation of Livy uses fatticcio.^[14]
• Before 1597 – Davanzati uses the word in his Tacitus.^[9][5]
• 1600s – Fatticciotto is recorded.^[6]
• 1800s – Fatticcione is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (uncommon, literary) Of a person, especially a boy or young man: big-limbed, sturdy and stocky: Il nuovo garzone era basso e fatticcio.^{[9][10][3][12][1]}

Word family

• fatticcione
• fatticciotto

Related words

• fattizio
• feticcio
• fatto
• Latin facticius

Usage notes

The GDLI records a separate old dialect noun fatticcio, “a spell, witchcraft”, also from Latin facticius “artificial”, in Matteo Ricci.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1605
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c 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. ^ 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. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier