fiasca

Forms

fiasca f (plural fiasche)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin flasca (“bottle, flask”), a word of Germanic origin recorded by Isidore in the 6th century.^[1][2][3] DELI and Nocentini treat it together with fiasco, from Proto-Germanic *flaskō and *flaska, a vessel covered with wicker.^[4][3] Nocentini compares Old High German flaska.^[3] DELI and GRADIT name the source as Gothic, Wiktionary as *flaskā, and Devoto as Lombardic.^[4][5][1][6] According to Nocentini, the masculine Latin flascō, recorded in the 4th century, came in with Gothic mercenaries of the late Empire.^[3] DEI and Zingarelli instead derive it from the masculine noun.^[7][8]

Migliorini, quoted by DELI, explains the borrowing by the new kind of vessel: bottles wrapped in wicker or straw were named with a Germanic word.^[4] The same family gave Old French flasche, Occitan flascó, Catalan flascó and Spanish frasco.^[3][9] Körting reports Diez's older idea of a Latin vasculum with its sounds rearranged.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's earliest record is a document from Orvieto of 1312, where fiasche means the same as fiasco.^[10] DELI dates the word to Sannazaro, before 1530, for a flattened flask hung from the belt.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Sannazaro's Arcadia a shepherd takes a delicate tamarisk-wood fiasca out of his bag, and in Caro's Dafni e Cloe the two carry the bag and the flask in turn.^[2] Salvini described the borraccia as a leather flask carried on the shoulder by pilgrims and hunters.^[11]

From the 13th to most of the 19th century a fiasca da polvere held gunpowder for firearms, with a measuring spout.^[12] In Tuscany it is a small demijohn without handles, once also of tin and used to carry milk; in the Veneto it means a bottle.^[12][8] French borrowed it as fiasque in 1803.^[13]

Timeline

• 1312 – A document from Orvieto has the earliest record.^[10]
• 1476 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[8]
• Before 1530 – Sannazaro uses it for a flattened flask.^[4]
• 1803 – French fiasque is first recorded.^[13]
• 1834 – The diminutive fiaschetta is first recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flask like a fiasco but with a flattened belly, hung from the belt and used as a water bottle.^{[5][14][15][16]}
2. (historical, hunting) A powder flask of leather, horn or metal, with a measuring spout.^[5][14][12]
3. (Tuscany) A small demijohn without handles, once used to carry milk.^{[5][14][12][16]}
4. (Veneto) A bottle.^[12][8]

Word family

• fiaschetta

Related words

• fiasco
• flacone
• French flacon

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 918
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e 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 d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 182
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1630
8. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli