fianco

Forms

fianco m (plural fianchi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian flanco, northern Old Italian flancho and southern Old Italian fiancu.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French flanc (“flank, side”), which is from Frankish *hlanka (“hip, bend”).^[3][4][5][1] Rohlfs thought the word reached Tuscan through northern Italy.^[3] The Frankish word is related to Old High German hlanca (“side, loin”), German Gelenk (“joint”) and English link, all with the basic idea of bending.^[4][6] The Old French word, recorded in 1080, also passed into Occitan flanc, Spanish flanco and Portuguese flanco.^[4][5]

Older scholars proposed Greek or Latin sources, among them Latin flaccus (“flabby”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto (before 1274); DELI dates the word to Bono Giamboni (before 1292), for the side of the body between the lowest rib and the hip.^[2][3] Dante (before 1321) also has the general sense “side”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Dante's Ugolino episode the dogs' teeth tear the flanks of the father and sons; in the TLIO's Old Italian texts the word also means the whole body, the hip, the internal organs on one side, a river bank and a slope.^[8][2] Petrarch's antiquo fianco is the poet's aged body.^[5][9]

From the 18th century it was a military term for the side of an army or of a fortification, opposed to the front.^[5][10] German borrowed Flanke as a military word in 1616.^[10] Derivatives include fiancata (before 1484, Pulci), first a spur-kick to a horse's flank and later a ship's broadside, and fiancheggiare (before 1555), to march beside and to support;^[3] fiancheggiatore (1849) became a political supporter in Gobetti.^[3]

Timeline

• 1080 – Old French flanc is recorded.^[5]
• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto has fianco.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for the side of the body.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “side”.^[3]
• Before 1484 – Pulci has fiancata.^[3]
• Before 1555 – Fiancheggiare “to march beside” is recorded.^[3]
• 1616 – German Flanke is borrowed as a military word.^[10]
• 1798 – Fiancata is recorded for a ship's broadside.^[3]
• 1855 – Affiancare is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. flank, side: the side of the human body between the lowest ribs and the hip; in the plural, the hips: Dorme sempre sul fianco sinistro.^{[5][11][9][1]}
2. (literary) The whole body.^[5][9][1]
3. The side of an animal's body between the ribs and the hind legs.^[5][12]
4. The side of a thing: il fianco della nave; the slope of a mountain.^{[5][11][13][1]}
5. (military) The side of an army or of a fortification.^[5][11]
6. (heraldry) Each side of a shield.^[5][13]

Word family

• fiancata
• fiancheggiare
• fiancheggiatore
• affiancare
• sfiancare
• fianchetto
• fiancare
• rinfiancare

Related words

• French flanc
• English flank

Usage notes

Common phrases include a fianco and di fianco a (beside), fianco a fianco (side by side), prestare il fianco (to lay oneself open, to criticism for example) and fianco destr! (right face!).^[5][11][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
7. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1630
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli