fionda

Forms

fionda f (plural fionde)^[1] The oldest form is Old Italian fonda.^[2][3] Other early texts have fionga, Old Italian fionne and Old Italian fronde, and the TLIO puts fionga down to the influence of Latin longa.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *flunda, formed by metathesis from Latin fundula, the diminutive of funda (“sling”).^{[2][5][3][6][1]} Wiktionary puts a contracted *fundla between the two.^[1] DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT mark the diminutive as a reconstruction, while Devoto and the DEI cite it as a word of Varro.^[2][5][7][8] De Vaan gives Varro's word the sense “blind alley”.^[9] Devoto compares the metathesis with *flaba beside fabula, the source of fiaba.^[7]

The diminutive is shared with French fronde, Occitan fronda and Catalan fronda, while Spanish honda comes from the simple noun.^[5] The base word also survives in Old French fonde and Sardinian funda.^[8][10] Wiktionary compares Sicilian ciunna and Asturian flonda.^[1] The ⟨r⟩ of the French and Occitan forms has not been explained.^[10] Italian fonda “purse, pouch” continues the Latin noun directly, applied to the pocket that held the stone.^[5]

The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^[2][11] Nocentini derives it from fundō (“to pour; to hurl”), pointing to its other sense “casting net”.^[5] De Vaan allows Proto-Indo-European *bʰondʰeh₂ (“strap”) from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind”), or a loan from an unknown language that may also have given Ancient Greek σφενδόνη (sphendónē, “sling”).^[9][1] The DEI also thinks of a loan, perhaps from Etruscan.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is fonda in the Fatti di Cesare at the end of the 13th century, naming the ancient sling: a weapon of two leather straps with a pouch for the stone.^[2] In that text a man puts the pommel of a broken sword into his sling, meaning to hit Brutus.^[12] The form fionda is first recorded in Cecco d'Ascoli's Acerba, before 1327, for a sling of cord or leather that is whirled before the stone is let go.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio uses fionda in 1340–1342, and the old translations of the Bible speak of warriors who threw stones with slings in both hands.^[2][12] Tommaseo still defines it as a soldier's weapon for throwing stones and lead balls, also called frombola and fromba.^[13] In old medicine the word also named a kind of bandage.^[8]

The toy sense, a forked stick with a strong elastic band that children use to shoot stones, is recorded before 1884, in G. Prati.^[2] It is now the commoner meaning, and the dictionaries list it first or second beside the ancient weapon.^[3][6][14]

In astronautics fionda gravitazionale or fionda spaziale is the gravity assist, a way of speeding up a space probe by passing it through a planet's gravitational field.^[3][15] The technique was proposed in 1966 by the physicist Giuseppe Colombo.^[15] The verb fiondare, “to hurl”, followed in 1961.^[5]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Fonda appears in the Fatti di Cesare.^[2][3]
• Before 1327 – Cecco d'Ascoli uses fionda in the Acerba.^[4]
• 1340–1342 – Boccaccio uses fionda.^[2]
• Before 1884 – G. Prati uses the word for the children's toy.^[2]
• 1961 – The verb fiondare is recorded.^[5]
• 1966 – Giuseppe Colombo proposes the gravity-assist technique called fionda gravitazionale.^[15]
• 1999 – La Repubblica writes of a probe sent on towards Saturn by the fionda gravitazionale.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. slingshot, catapult: a forked piece of wood or metal with an elastic band fixed to its tips, used for shooting stones: Con la fionda colpiva i barattoli sul muretto.^{[3][6][14][1]}
2. (history, weapons) sling: an ancient throwing weapon of two cords or leather straps with a pouch in the middle for the stone.^{[3][6][17][18]}
3. (astronautics) fionda gravitazionale, fionda spaziale: gravity assist, the use of a planet's gravity to speed up a spacecraft.^[3][15]

Word family

• fiondare
• fiondatore

Related words

• fonda
• frombola
• Latin funda
• French fronde

Usage notes

Sabatini–Coletti also calls the toy frombola, and Devoto–Oli archetto.^[17][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1649
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ 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, 6
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ 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)
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
17. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
18. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana