fiorire

Forms

fiorire (first-person singular present fiorìsco, first-person singular past historic fiorìi, past participle fiorìto, auxiliary (intransitive) èssere or (transitive) avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin flōrīre (“to flower”), a Late Latin form that moved the verb into another conjugation.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} Tommaseo–Bellini notes the Late Latin form in the Vulgate and on an inscription from Mainz.^[6] Classical flōreō (“to bloom”) is a verb formed on flōs (“flower”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-ōs (“blossoming”).^[3][7][8][9]

The verb is pan-Romance: French fleurir, Occitan florir, Catalan florir, the Logudorese florire, Spanish florecer, Portuguese florecer and Romanian înflori.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur of the last quarter of the 12th century, in the sense of plants coming into flower.^[11] DELI's first record of “to put out flowers” is Guido Guinizelli, before 1276: e ciascun fior fiorisce in sua manera (“and every flower blooms in its own way”).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “to flourish, to gain power and prestige” is recorded before 1294 in Brunetto Latini.^[2] Old Italian also used the verb of a feeling or virtue growing quickly, of a person showing their best and becoming famous, and of adorning a text with rhetorical figures.^[11] The transitive sense “to fill or cover with flowers” is in Francesco da Barberino (1314) and in Dante.^[2]

The sense “to become covered with mould, rust or a salt crust” dates from before 1564, in L. Domenichi; an earlier record attributed to Bencivenni in the Crusca dictionary, Tommaseo–Bellini and the GDLI is a forgery.^[2] Today the verb is also used of wine growing flor, of damp walls and paper, and of skin breaking out in a rash.^[7][8][4]

Timeline

• 1175–1200 – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use the verb.^[11]
• Early 13th century – Rifiorire is recorded.^[3]
• Before 1276 – Guido Guinizelli uses fiorire “to put out flowers”.^[2][4]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it in the sense “to flourish”.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Sfiorire is recorded.^[3]
• Before 1306 – The participle fiorito is recorded as an adjective.^[3]
• 1314 – Francesco da Barberino uses the verb transitively, “to cover with flowers”.^[2]
• Before 1564 – L. Domenichi uses it for becoming covered with mould or a crust.^[2]
• Before 1712 – Fioritura is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of plants, to bloom, to come into flower; of places, to become covered with flowers: A marzo fioriscono le mimose.^{[4][7][12][1]}
2. (figurative) To flourish, to prosper, to be at its height: In quella città fiorirono i commerci.^{[4][7][13][1]}
3. (figurative) Of a person, to be active and famous at a given time: Il pittore fiorì a Siena nel Trecento.^[4][7][14]
4. (figurative) To arise, to appear, as a smile or a hope.^[4][12][15]
5. To become covered with mould or damp stains, of walls or paper; of wine, to grow flor; of the body, to break out in a rash.^[4][7][8][1]
6. (transitive, uncommon) To make bloom; to deck with flowers; figuratively, to embellish.^{[4][12][14][1]}

Word family

• fiorito
• fioritura
• fiorita
• rifiorire
• sfiorire
• disfiorire
• prefiorire

Related words

• fiore
• fiorente
• Latin flōreō

Usage notes

The proverb se son rose fioriranno (“if they are roses, they will bloom”) says that time will show whether hopes are well founded.^[13][14][8] DEI records two minor words of the same spelling: a 17th-century medical fiorire “to menstruate”, and a nautical fiorire “to bend (a sail)” of 1715, Venetian fiorìr.^[16]

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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1652