ferragosto

Forms

ferragosto m (plural ferragosti)^[1] In Piedmont and Lombardy the word is Piedmontese feraost, and it is Emilian feragost in Emilia, both naming the first day of August.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fēriae (“holidays, religious festival”) Augustī (“of August”), a Latin phrase meaning “the August holidays”, written as one word.^[3][4][5][1] The festival first fell on the first day of August and was later moved to the fifteenth, to coincide with the feast of the Assumption of Mary.^[4][5][6] Devoto thought the first part had somehow been crossed with ferro (“iron”).^[7] Meyer-Lübke lists the compound under fēria, the singular that gave fiera (“fair”).^[2]

The name of the month comes from the emperor Augustus: the sixth month of the old Roman year, Sextīlis, was renamed in his honour.^[8] The Latin plural goes back to Proto-Italic *fēziās, from an adjective meaning “divine”; de Vaan derives the family from an s-stem Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁s- “religious gift, rite”, the source also of Ancient Greek θεός (theós, “god”).^[9][1] The old form fēsiae and the related fēstus (“festive”) show the earlier /s/.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benvenuto Cellini, before 1571, writes of meeting for music every day for two hours during the eight days before Ferragosto.^[3][11] The word then meant the feast at the beginning of August.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo's dictionary still defines ferragosto as the first of August, kept in some parts of Italy with eating, drinking and gifts from masters to their servants and dependants.^[12][3] Tommaseo adds that the feast had been held on the day of Augustus's triumph over Cleopatra until Pope Sixtus III replaced it in 439 with the feast of Saint Peter in Chains.^[12] Only with Panzini's dictionary of 1908 is ferragosto the fifteenth of August, a holiday and a day of tips.^[3] Giuseppe Baretti regarded it as a Florentine word.^[3]

Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger made a pun of the name: Ferragosto says he is so called because, as a farrier ferra (shoes) horses and makes them stronger, he strengthens people by filling their stomachs, and does it in August.^[11] Tips remain part of the day: one gives the porter la mancia di ferragosto, or simply il ferragosto.^[13]

Today the word means the holiday of 15 August, and by extension the short break around it, the height of the Italian summer holidays.^[5][13][14] The adjective ferragostano is recorded from 1963.^[3][4] English uses Ferragosto for the Italian holiday from the 20th century.^[15]

Timeline

• Before 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini writes of the days before Ferragosto.^[3][11]
• 19th century – Tommaseo's dictionary defines the word as the first day of August.^[12]
• 1908 – Panzini's dictionary gives the date as 15 August.^[3]
• 20th century – English takes over Ferragosto for the Italian holiday.^[15]
• 1963 – Ferragostano “of ferragosto” is first recorded.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The popular holiday of 15 August, which coincides with the Catholic feast of the Assumption; it was originally held on the first of August.^[5][16][17]
2. By extension, the day itself: A ferragosto la città si svuota.^[5][18]
3. By extension, the short holiday in the days around 15 August: Abbiamo passato il ferragosto in collina.^[5][6][19]
4. (history) In ancient Rome, the popular festival on the first day of August.^[18][14]

Word family

• ferragostano

Related words

• agosto
• ferie
• fiera
• festa
• Latin feriae

Usage notes

The word is often written with a capital, Ferragosto.^[15][20] Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli treat it as invariable, while Wiktionary gives the plural ferragosti.^[17][18][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 181
8. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 2322
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ 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, 853
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
15. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
18. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
19. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
20. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca