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fiasco

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word fiasco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1277–1282 Sienese document More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin flasco
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin flascō
French flacon
Italian fiasco
From the same root
English fiasco ← flascō

Pronunciation

Forms

fiasco m (plural fiaschi)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin flascō (“bottle”), a word taken by Late Latin from Germanic.[2][1][3] DELI and GRADIT name Gothic *flaskō as the source, and Nocentini Proto-Germanic *flaskō, *flaska, “a container covered with wicker”.[4][5][2] Wiktionary gives Frankish *flaska as the intermediate form.[1]

Nocentini dates the Late Latin word to the 4th century, a loan of the late Empire brought by Gothic mercenaries.[2] Its Italian adaptation fiascone was taken for an augmentative, and the shorter word was drawn from it.[2][6] DEI cites the Late Latin word from Ennodius and has flasca in Isidore.[7] Migliorini explained the borrowing by the novelty of vessels covered with wicker or sedge.[4]

The Germanic word is related to Old High German flaska and German Flasche, and perhaps to the root of German flechten (“to plait”).[2][3][4] The same word is Old French flasche, Occitan flascó, Catalan flascó and Spanish frasco.[2] Its doublet is flacone.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Sienese document of 1277–1282, in the sense of a vessel for liquids, especially wine.[8][2] Medieval Latin flascum unum de vino (“one flask of wine”) is recorded in 1238 at Bonifacio.[4] DELI's first Italian record is in Cecco Angiolieri, before 1313.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century Salimbene of Parma wrote that the people of Tuscany called a certain vessel flascone and the Lombards botacium.[9] The glass flask (recorded 1344–1345) replaced the metal one between the 14th and 15th centuries.[4] From the 15th century the word also named the content of a flask as a measure for liquids.[10]

The figurative fare fiasco, “to fail”, is recorded from 1806.[4] No explanation of it has convinced.[4][2] Anecdotes tell of a 17th-century Harlequin who failed with a monologue about a flask, but these are later inventions.[2][4] Lurati linked it with customs in which an empty vessel is shown to mock a failure, above all in love.[4][2] The phrase passed into the language of the theatre everywhere: French faire fiasco (1835) and English fiasco (1855), at first theatre slang.[3][11]

Timeline

  • 1238 – Medieval Latin flascum is recorded at Bonifacio.[4]
  • 1277–1282 – Fiasco appears in a Sienese document.[8][2]
  • Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses fiasco.[4][5]
  • 1344–1345 – The glass fiasco is recorded.[4]
  • 1806 – Fare fiasco “to fail” is recorded.[4]
  • 1835 – French faire fiasco is recorded.[3]
  • 1855 – English fiasco appears as theatre slang for a failure.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A flask: a large bottle with a round body and a long neck, covered with straw or plastic: due fiaschi di rosso.[5][12][13]
  2. The content of a flask.[5][12] In Tuscany, a measure of just over two litres.[5][12]
  3. (hunting) A cage for quail used as decoys.[5][12]
  4. (figurative) A failure, flop: la serata fu un fiasco.[5][12][14]

Word family

  • fiasca
  • fiascone
  • fiaschetteria
  • fiaschetta
  • fiaschetto
  • infiascare
  • fiascaio
  • flacone
  • German Flasche
  • English fiasco

Usage notes

Fare fiasco means to fail.[12][15] Prendere fischi per fiaschi means to misunderstand.[12][13][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 e f g 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
  7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1630
  8. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Fiasco.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/fiasco. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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