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fiocco

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word fiocco

fiocco1 bow, knot; tuft; snowflake

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1324–1328 Jacopo della Lana's commentary on the Paradiso
Inherited from
Latin floccus
Ultimate origin
Latin floccus
Etymology tree of fiocco1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin floccus
Italian fiocco
From the same root · fiocco1
English flock ← floccus

Pronunciation

  • /ˈfjɔk.ko/[1]

Forms

fiocco m (plural fiocchi)[1]

Etymology

The word for the bow, the tuft and the snowflake is inherited from Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”).[2][3][4][1] It is panromance: Romanian floc, Friulian flok, Romansh flok, French floc, Occitan floc, Catalan floc, Spanish fleco “fringe” and Portuguese froco.[3][5][6] Old Italian also had the feminine fiocca, which names the instep because the bow of the shoe is tied there.[2][5]

The Latin word has no secure etymology.[7][3][8] A link with Old High German blaha “coarse linen” is too vague to inspire confidence, according to de Vaan;[7][1] Wiktionary also mentions a Germanic source.[7][1] GDLI calls it an expressive formation.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Jacopo della Lana's Bolognese commentary on the Paradiso, 1324–28, for a snowflake.[10][3] The verb fioccare “to fall in flakes” is older still (1274).[3]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates the tuft of wool or silk from the 15th century, in Brancati, the tassel from Ariosto, 1532, the snowflake from Aretino, 1536, and the bow of a ribbon or tie from Sassetti, 1586.[2] Later senses include a raw textile fibre (1942) and pasta in the shape of a bow (fiocchi, 1970).[2] Cereal flakes, the tuft on a horse's fetlock and a cut of beef are among the modern senses.[4][11]

Coi fiocchi “with bows” means excellent, and a pink or blue fiocco hung on the door announces the birth of a girl or a boy.[12][13][4] Older senses now obsolete are an abundance of something and, in slang, a theft.[12][14][15] English borrowed the word as fiocchio (1694) and German as Fiocco (1806), both now obsolete.[16]

Timeline

  • 1324–1328 – Jacopo della Lana uses fiocco for a snowflake.[10][3]
  • 15th century – G. Brancati uses it for a tuft of wool.[2][9]
  • 1532 – Ariosto uses it for a tassel.[2]
  • 1586 – Sassetti uses it for a bow of ribbon.[2][16]
  • 1694 – English fiocchio is recorded.[16]
  • 1952 – Fiocchini, a kind of pasta, are recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bow: a knot of ribbon or fabric tied in loops with free ends.[4][13][12]
  2. fiocco rosa, fiocco azzurro: a pink or blue bow hung at the door of a house where a girl or a boy has been born.[4][13][12]
  3. A tuft or flock of wool, cotton or other fibre; a mass of fibres ready for spinning.[4][13][11]
  4. A snowflake: nevicava a grossi fiocchi.[4][13][17]
  5. A tassel.[4][13]
  6. (usually plural) Bow-shaped pasta; cereal flakes: fiocchi d'avena.[4][13][18]
  7. (zoology) The tuft of hair on a horse's fetlock, or at the tip of a ruminant's tail.[4][13][14]
  8. (metallurgy) A flaw in steel caused by dissolved hydrogen.[4][11]
  9. coi fiocchi (colloquial): excellent, first-rate.[13][12][18]

Word family

  • fioccare
  • fiocca
  • fiocchetto
  • infiocchettare
  • infioccare
  • fioccoso

fiocco2 jib

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1798 as flocco
Borrowed from
French foc
Ultimate origin
Dutch fok

Pronunciation

  • /ˈfjɔk.ko/[1]

Forms

fiocco m (plural fiocchi)[1]

Etymology

The word for the jib is borrowed from French foc, dated 1602 by DELI and 1702 (as foque) by GRADIT, and reshaped after fiocco “bow, tuft”.[2][4][3] The French word comes from Dutch fok, which DELI and Sabatini–Coletti derive from Middle Dutch vocken (“to fan”), while Nocentini compares Middle Dutch foeke (“small sail”).[2][17][3] Wiktionary and Treccani suggest that the word may have come through Catalan.[1][18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form flocco in 1798;[2][4] fiocco is found in Massimo d'Azeglio, before 1866.[2][4] D'Azeglio describes a boat with a tall lateen sail and a fiocco on a kind of bowsprit.[19]

Semantic evolution

The form flocco lived on beside fiocco: Pascoli and D'Annunzio write flocchi and flocco.[19] Controfiocco, the outer jib, is recorded before 1865.[3] In modern sailing fiocco pallone is the spinnaker, set forward of the bow when the wind is astern.[13][14]

Timeline

  • 1798 – Flocco is recorded.[2][4]
  • Before 1865 – Controfiocco is recorded.[3]
  • Before 1866 – Massimo d'Azeglio uses fiocco.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (nautical) A jib: a triangular fore-and-aft sail set at the bow, between the foremast and the bowsprit.[4][13][17]
  2. fiocco pallone: a spinnaker.[13][14]

Word family

  • controfiocco

Usage notes

GDLI also records an obsolete fiocco “wave” in A. Pucci, from Old French floc, from Latin fluctus.[19] Flocco is still a variant of the word for the jib.[13][17][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 3
  10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  11. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  14. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  16. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  17. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  18. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  19. ^ 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. 6, 4

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Fiocco.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/fiocco. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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