favilla

Forms

favilla f (plural faville)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin favīlla (“glowing ash, spark”), a word of popular development in Italian.^[2][3][1][4] The GDLI alone calls it learned.^[5] The Appendix Probi condemns a spoken form failla, which survives in Sicilian faidda and Galician feila in Galician.^[6][7] The northern dialects have faliva, with metathesis, as does Friulian falive.^[4][7][1] The word lives on only in Italy, Sardinia and the Iberian Peninsula: Sardinian faddiya “glowing ash” in Logudorese and Portuguese fagulha “spark”.^[4][7]

Most of the Italian dictionaries derive the Latin word from the root of Latin foveō (“to warm”).^[2][3][8] De Vaan traces that verb to Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”), and Nocentini derives the Latin noun from it.^[9][3] Wiktionary instead prefers Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke”), because its descendants show no trace of a labiovelar.^[1] Isidore of Seville had explained the word from the Greek for fire.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the first record to about 1243, Zingarelli to 1268, and DELI and GRADIT to Bono Giamboni, before 1292, with the sense “tiny fragment of glowing matter, spark”.^{[3][10][2][8]}

Semantic evolution

Dante used the word for the beginning of a feeling or event, as in Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda (“a great flame follows a little spark”), for a tiny portion of something, and for the flames that wrap the fraudulent counsellors in Hell.^[2][5][11] Old Italian also used favilla as Latin did, for the fine ash that covers embers.^[10][11] The figurative favilla dell'amore or dell'odio is the small cause that starts a passion.^[8][12]

The modern idiom fare faville means to shine, to do brilliantly, and mandare faville dagli occhi to flash with joy or anger.^[8][13][12] The diminutive favilluzza served Boccaccio for “a tiny amount”.^[12]

Timeline

• About 1243 – the first record in Nocentini.^[3]
• 1268 – the first record in Zingarelli.^[10]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses favilla for a spark.^[2][8]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the beginning of a feeling or event.^[2]
• Before 1321 – sfavillare “to sparkle” is first recorded.^[3]
• 1873 – sfavillio is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spark, a tiny fragment of glowing matter thrown off by a fire or by hot metal when struck: Dal camino salivano faville.^[8][13][12]
2. (figurative) A flash of strong feeling in the eyes: mandare faville dagli occhi, to flash with joy or anger.^[8][13]
3. (figurative) The small cause or start of a passion or event: la favilla della rivolta.^[8][14][15]
4. (literary) A small flame.^[13][14][12]
5. (literary) A tiny amount, a crumb.^[8][10][16]

Word family

• sfavillare
• sfavillante
• sfavillio
• favillare
• favilletta
• favillina
• favilluzza

Related words

• fomento
• fuoco
• Latin foveō

Usage notes

Fare faville (colloquial) is said of someone who succeeds brilliantly, or of something marvellous, and andare in faville means to burn up.^[8][10][12] Favilla is also an Italian surname.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1608
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 745
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ 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
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 c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 2, 714
12. ^ a b c d e f 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 d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli