fradicio

Forms

fradicio (feminine fradicia, masculine plural fradici, feminine plural fradice or fradicie)^[1] The older form is fracido, the only one in Old Italian; it survives in literary and Roman use, and Roman also has fracico.^[2][3][4] Dialect forms include Sicilian fràcitu, Neapolitan fràlete, Genoese frassu and Friulian fraid.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fracidus (“soft, pulpy, overripe”), through a metathesis of the older fracido.^[6][7][1] DELI dates the metathesis to the 16th century: Battaglia's example of fradiciume from Catherine of Siena and Tommaseo's example of the new form from a 14th-century text are likely to come from later printed editions.^[6] The same metathesis turned sucido into sudicio.^[8][9]

The Latin adjective was formed from fraces (“dregs of olive oil”) with the suffix -idus, or from the verb fraceō (“to be rotten”).^[10][2][1] Nocentini compares Lithuanian drãgės (“dregs”), while DELI and Zingarelli call the origin uncertain.^[2][6][4] Devoto thought the Latin noun might be connected with marceō (“to wither”), through a metathesis of the root.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is fracido in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, with the sense “very wet”; about 1304 Giordano da Pisa uses it for “rotten” and for “corrupt”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian fracido was also a noun for damp and rot, from about 1340 in the vernacular Palladius.^[6] The form fradicio is recorded in Lodovico Domenichi in 1563 for “rotten” (un fungo fradicio), and in Magalotti in 1682 for “soaked”.^[6][12] Tommaseo explained the Tuscan sense “wet” from the fact that damp hastens rotting.^[9]

As an intensifier after another adjective it means “completely”: bagnato fradicio, sudato fradicio, ubriaco fradicio.^[4][13] The proverb una pera fradicia ne guasta un monte warns of the harm of a bad example.^[13][9]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses fracido for “very wet”.^[6]
• About 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses fracido for “rotten” and “corrupt”.^[6]
• 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses fracidume.^[6]
• 1563 – Lodovico Domenichi uses fradicio.^[6]
• Before 1584 – Grazzini uses fradiciume.^[6]
• 1682 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses fradicio for “soaked”.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. soaked, drenched, dripping wet: sono rientrati fradici di pioggia.^[3][14][1]
2. (intensifier) Completely, thoroughly: bagnato fradicio, ubriaco fradicio, innamorato fradicio.^[7][3][4]
3. rotten, gone bad: una mela fradicia.^[7][3][14]
4. (figurative) Morally corrupt.^[7][3][4]

Noun

1. The rotten part of something, especially of a fruit.^[7][3][4]
2. (figurative) Corruption, moral decay.^[7][3][13]
3. Wet, muddy ground; dampness.^[7][3][14]

Word family

• infradiciare
• fradiciume
• fracidume
• infracidare
• infradicire

Related words

• fracido
• marcio
• Latin fracidus

Usage notes

The feminine plural is fradice or fradicie.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1702
9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 269
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse