fischiare

Forms

fischiare (first-person singular present fìschio, first-person singular past historic fischiài, past participle fischiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Popular Tuscan has the variant fistiare.^[2][3][1] Neapolitan and Apulian forms begin with a hissing consonant by distant assimilation.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin fistulāre (“to play the shepherd's pipe”), a Late Latin verb formed on Latin fistula (“pipe, tube; shepherd's pipe”).^[6][7][8][1] DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT quote the Late Latin verb in the deponent form fistulārī.^[6][7][8] Sabatini–Coletti starts from a syncopated Vulgar Latin *fistlāre.^[9] The verb is found only in Italy, where it drove out sībilāre (“to hiss”).^[5][4] The same verb survives as Sicilian friscari and Sardinian fruschiare.^[1] From Latin come also Basque fistu (“whistle”) and Breton flistra (“to spurt with a hiss”).^[5]

The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^[6][10] De Vaan finds the best comparison in festūca (“stalk, straw”), since a pipe and a stalk have the same shape.^[10][1]

Rohlfs, quoted by Battaglia, explains the Tuscan fistiare as a hypercorrection: in reaction to the recent popular palatalisation, ⟨schi⟩ was turned into ⟨sti⟩, as in the vernacular stiaffo and stiavo.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and the TLIO date the first record to the early 14th century, in Guido da Pisa's Fatti di Enea, with the sense “to give out a sharp, hissing sound”.^[6][12][7] Battaglia quotes it of a snake fighting an eagle: la serpe s'aiuta ora co' denti mordendo, or colla voce fischiando (“the snake defends itself now by biting with its teeth, now by hissing with its voice”).^[11] The TLIO's Old Italian senses are playing a shrill wind instrument, the hissing of snakes and the whistling of things.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Cavalca has the Tuscan form of a devil who fistiasse come serpente e come topo (“hissed like a snake and like a mouse”).^[11] Tommaseo records it also of the wind, and of warriors raising a din.^[13] The reflexive fischiarsi once meant “to rush, hurl oneself”.^[12][2]

The transitive senses are later: to whistle down a performer is recorded before 1686, in F. F. Frugoni, and to whistle a tune before 1850, in G. Giusti.^[6] Football and other sports gave the referee's sense, to stop play or signal a foul with the whistle.^[2][3] The popular belief that ringing ears mean someone is talking of you is behind mi fischiano le orecchie.^[2][3]

The deverbal fischio meant the instrument in Dante before it meant the sound, and fischione, a wild duck, is named for the whistle it gives in flight.^[6] In Lucca fischio is also a word for a small boy's member.^[4]

Timeline

• Early 14th century – Guido da Pisa uses fischiare of a hissing snake.^[6][12]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses fischio for a whistle, the instrument.^[6]
• Before 1367 – Fischio “whistling sound” is recorded in Fazio.^[6]
• 1561 – Fischietto “small whistle” is first recorded.^[6][7]
• Before 1606 – Fischiata is recorded in B. Davanzati.^[6]
• Before 1686 – F. F. Frugoni uses the verb for whistling disapproval.^[6]
• 1773 – Fischione names a wild duck.^[6][7]
• 1819 – Fischiettare “to whistle softly” is first recorded.^[6][7]
• Before 1850 – G. Giusti uses it for whistling a tune.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To whistle with the lips, with two fingers in the mouth or with a whistle, also at someone, to call or to show admiration or disapproval: Fischiò piano per non svegliare nessuno.^[8][14][2]
2. (intransitive) Of birds and snakes, to give their whistling or hissing call.^[8][14][1]
3. (intransitive) Of the wind or of objects flying fast, to whistle or whiz: Le frecce fischiavano sopra le mura.^[8][14][3]
4. (intransitive) Of the ears, to ring or buzz: mi fischiano le orecchie, said jokingly when someone must be talking about you.^[8][2][1]
5. (intransitive) Of machines, sirens and the like, to give a long shrill sound.^[8][14][3]
6. (intransitive) To pronounce the sibilants badly.^[8][2][3]
7. (transitive) To whistle a tune: Fischiava sempre la stessa vecchia canzone.^[8][2][9]
8. (transitive) To boo or hiss a performer or a show.^[8][2][9][1]
9. (transitive, sports) Of a referee, to signal with the whistle: fischiare il calcio d'inizio is to start the match.^[8][2][9]

Word family

• fischio
• fischietto
• fischiata
• fischiettare
• fischiettio
• fischione
• infischiarsi
• rifischiare

Related words

• fistola
• Latin fistula

Usage notes

Fischiare ai tordi is to imitate the call of thrushes to lure them.^[2][8] Both le orecchie and gli orecchi are used in the phrase about ringing ears.^[8][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1653
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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, 25
12. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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