folgorare

Forms

folgorare (first-person singular present fólgoro, first-person singular past historic folgorài, past participle folgoràto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms are Old Italian fulgurare and Old Italian fulgorare.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fulgurāre (“to lighten, flash”), a verb made from fulgur (“lightning”).^{[5][6][7][8][9]} The TLIO instead treats it as formed in Italian from folgore, and Wiktionary notes that it can be analysed as that noun with the verb ending -are.^[4][1] The GDLI calls it a learned word.^[2] The Romanian verb fulgera comes from a variant Vulgar Latin *fulgerāre.^[9][10]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *folgos and belongs with fulgeō (“to flash, shine”).^[1] The French verb fulgurer is a 19th-century borrowing from Latin.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Italian translation of Plutarch's Lives of about 1304, in the sense “to flash with lightning”: lightning struck so hard that it burnt many men-at-arms.^[5][11][7] The TLIO's first example is Dante's Commedia.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From flashing lightning the verb soon passed to light in general: Petrarch's eyes folgorar da lunge (blaze from afar).^[5][12] Dante used it for speed: scese folgorando a Iuba (swept down like lightning on Juba).^[12][13] The 14th-century Bible translations use it of God hurling thunderbolts.^[5] Segneri used it of a parish priest thundering against vice.^[11][12]

The transitive sense “to strike with lightning” (Giove folgorò Capaneo) led in the 20th century to “to electrocute”, mostly in the passive, recorded from 1965; medicine uses folgorazione for injury by electric current.^[5][12][10] Figuratively one is folgorato by an idea or a face, and in football slang a striker folgora the goalkeeper with an unstoppable shot.^[7][13]

Timeline

• c. 1304 – The Italian translation of Plutarch uses folgorare for lightning.^[5][7]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it of shining light and of swift movement.^[4][12]
• Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it for dazzling light.^[5]
• Late 14th century – The Bible translations use it of God hurling thunderbolts.^[5]
• 1554 – Folgorante appears in Matteo Bandello.^[5]
• 1965 – The sense “to strike with an electric shock” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, literary) To flash with lightning; also impersonal: Sui monti folgorava da ore.^[7][8][13]
2. (intransitive, literary) To blaze, to shine with dazzling light: Il faro folgorava sulla scogliera.^[7][3][14]
3. (intransitive, literary) To move as fast as lightning.^[7][8][14]
4. (intransitive, literary) To inveigh violently, to thunder against someone.^[7][8][12]
5. (transitive) To strike with a thunderbolt or lightning.^[7][3][13]
6. (transitive, chiefly passive) To electrocute, to strike with an electric shock: Due tecnici sono stati folgorati da un cavo.^[7][8][13]
7. (transitive, figurative) To wither someone with a look: Mi folgorò con gli occhi.^[7][8]
8. (transitive, figurative) To strike, to dazzle, to impress deeply: Fui folgorato da quel ritratto.^[7][3][8]
9. (transitive, archaic or literary) To light up.^[7][8][3]
10. (transitive, football slang) To beat the goalkeeper with an unstoppable shot.^[13]

Word family

• folgorante
• folgorazione
• folgoratore
• folgorio
• sfolgorare

Related words

• folgore
• fulmine
• fulgido
• Latin fulgur

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d 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 h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1677
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana