follia

Forms

follia f (plural follie)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian folle + -ia.^[2][3][4][5] The adjective folle “mad” comes from Latin follis (“leather bag, bellows; ball”), which by a metaphor came to mean “empty head”.^[6][7] It is a Romance formation shared with French fou and Occitan fol.^[7] DELI calls the Latin word onomatopoeic, while Nocentini puts it in the family of flō (“to blow”).^[6][7]

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 a lack of reason or self-control, which the TLIO notes was often caused by love.^[4] DELI's first record is Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250: e dico che follia / me n'à fatto alungare (“and I say that folly has made me go far from her”).^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian follia was above all a lack of good sense and a foolish or sinful act.^[4] The sense of a foolish deed or speech is dated to the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century.^[6] Old proverbs include beltà e follia vanno spesso in compagnia, “beauty and folly often go together”.^[9][10] The sense of mental illness, the loss of reason, is the main one in the modern dictionaries.^[2][3]

Amare alla follia “to love madly” is modelled on French aimer à la folie.^[6] Panzini criticised it in 1905, but it was recorded in a Milanese newspaper as early as 1838.^[6] In music the follia was a dance of Portuguese or Iberian origin in the 16th and 17th centuries, used by Baroque composers as a theme for variations, as in Corelli's Follia.^[2][5][11]

Timeline

• 1175–1200 – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur uses follia.^[4]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the word.^[6]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses it for a foolish act or speech.^[6]
• 1838 – Alla follia appears in a Milanese newspaper.^[6]
• 1905 – Panzini criticises amare alla follia as a Gallicism.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. madness, pazzia: a state of severe mental illness and loss of reason: un raptus di follia.^[2][3][12]
2. Lack of good sense, recklessness: hence alla follia, madly, passionately.^[2][10][11]
3. A reckless or senseless act: è una follia uscire in barca con questo vento.^[2][3][13]
4. (figurative) An eccentricity: le follie della moda.^[2]
5. (figurative) An exorbitant sum of money: ha speso una follia.^[2]
6. (music) A dance of Iberian origin of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the Baroque theme for variations based on it.^[2][5][11]

Related words

• folle
• pazzia
• French folie
• Latin follis

Usage notes

Fare follie means both to act recklessly out of passion and to indulge in wild amusements.^[12][11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d 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 Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli