favo

Forms

favo m (plural favi)^[1] Old Italian had fao beside favo.^[2] Körting records a form Old Italian fiavo, influenced by flavus.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin favus (“honeycomb”).^[4][5][6][1] The same word is Romanian fag, Old Spanish havo and Portuguese favo.^[5][7] DEI notes that it is widespread in the dialects, which also have other names such as bresca and nido d'api.^[8]

The origin of the Latin favus is uncertain.^[4][9][10] De Vaan calls it unknown; he mentions Walde and Hofmann's link with Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to dwell”), the honeycomb as the bees' dwelling, but finds the formation hard to justify.^[10] Wiktionary takes it from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to swell, grow; to dwell”).^[1] Nocentini thinks it probably related to fovea (“pit”), with /a/ for /o/ as in faveō beside foveō; another view, taken up by Poetto, derives it by metathesis from a form built on Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to weave”), which would match German Wabe “honeycomb”.^[5] Devoto and the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana regard it as not Indo-European.^[11][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first records are a doubtful one in the Fiore di virtù (1305–1323, from an 18th-century edition) and a firm one in Simintendi, before 1333, for the bees' wax cells.^[12] DELI's first date is Cavalca, before 1342.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word both for the wax cells and for the honey they hold, which was eaten and also used as a remedy.^[12] Cavalca compared enemies surrounding him to bees round the honeycomb.^[2]

A medical sense, a skin infection with inflamed pustules, already appears in Old Italian, where it named a kind of ringworm.^[12][13] DELI dates the sense “cluster of boils” to 1892 and explains it by the holes that the boils show once they have drained, like a honeycomb; compare vespaio.^[4] Modern medicine uses favo for a carbuncle and for favus, a fungal infection of the scalp, and veterinary medicine for a fungal disease of hens and turkeys.^[6][14]

Timeline

• Before 1333 – Simintendi uses favo.^[12]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses the word.^[4][6]
• 1892 – Favo “cluster of boils” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A honeycomb: the wax structure of hexagonal cells that worker bees, or wasps, build to hold eggs, honey and pollen: L'apicoltore sollevò un favo colmo di miele.^[6][9][14]
2. (medicine) A carbuncle, a cluster of boils with several openings.^[9][15][14]
3. (medicine) favus, a fungal infection of the skin and scalp.^[6][9][16]
4. (veterinary) A fungal disease of hens and turkeys affecting the comb and wattles.^[6][14]

Word family

• favoso
• favone

Related words

• fiale
• fiadone
• Latin favus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1608
9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1609
14. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier