filza

Forms

filza f (plural filze)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is not clear.^[2][3][4] Nocentini, following Giovanni Alessio, probably derives it from Vulgar Latin *filicella, a diminutive of Latin fīlum (“thread”), through a northern *filzella; he explains the Vulgar Latin form as a cross of the word for thread with *funicella, the diminutive of fūnis (“rope”).^[5] Devoto calls the word a form extracted from that northern form, which he sees as a double diminutive of the Latin noun, with the assimilation shown by Piedmontese filsèla (“string”), partly corrected to Tuscan by turning ⟨s⟩ into ⟨z⟩.^[6][7] Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli follow this line, and compare French ficelle (“string”).^[8][9][10]

Others connect it simply with filo, as Migliorini and Duro do, or as Treccani and Wiktionary allow.^[2][11][1] DEI proposed a regional Latin *phylax, from Ancient Greek φύλαξ (phýlax, “guard; amulet; band, chain”) in its Byzantine use, crossed with the Latin word for thread.^[12][2] Körting started from *filtia, a back-formation from a verb *filtiāre.^[13] DELI concludes that all these are still hypotheses.^[2]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *fī(s)lo- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- (“sinew”), the source also of Lithuanian gysla (“vein, sinew”).^[14][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin filza is recorded at Bologna in 1287, for strings of paternosters and corals.^[2][12] The first Italian record is in the Florentine Fiore (1280–1310), with the sense of a number of things held together on a string;^[2][15][10] GRADIT dates the word to 1310.^[2][15][10]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian a filza di paternostri was a rosary.^[15] Sacchetti tells of a man who bought una filza di salsiccioni, and strings of sausages, thrushes and pearls run through the later quotations.^[7][16]

Ariosto used the word in 1532 for a row of people, animals or objects lined up one after the other, and Machiavelli (before 1527) for a bundle of documents strung together for the archive.^[2] Treccani explains this archive sense: the papers were once pierced on a long nail or a cord and tied between two boards.^[11] Tommaseo records how such bundles were cited, Archivio, Filza numero tale.^[16] The sewing sense, a stitch with long, evenly spaced points, is recorded in 1853.^[2] In the figurative sense of a long series, the expressive variant sfilza (1960) is now more common.^[11][5]

Timeline

• 1287 – Medieval Latin filza is recorded at Bologna.^[2]
• 1280–1310 – The Fiore has the first Italian record.^[2][15]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for a bundle of documents.^[2]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses it for a row of people or things.^[2]
• 1853 – The sewing sense is recorded by Carena.^[2]
• 1960 – The variant sfilza is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A string of similar things threaded together: una filza di peperoncini.^[10][8][3]
2. (figurative) A long, unbroken series, the same as sfilza: Ci ha raccontato una filza di scuse.^[10][3][9]
3. (archives) A bundle of manuscript papers or documents kept together in a library or archive.^[10][8][17]
4. (sewing) A running stitch with long, evenly spaced stitches, used above all for tacking: punto filza.^[10][8][1]
5. (obsolete) A festoon woven of sprigs of myrtle and laurel.^[10][9]

Word family

• infilzare
• sfilza
• filzetta

Related words

• filo
• fila
• French ficelle

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1645
13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
16. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana