frizzare

Forms

frizzare (first-person singular present frìzzo, first-person singular past historic frizzài, past participle frizzàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *frictiāre, an intensive of Latin frīgō (“to roast, fry”).^[2][3][4][5] Treccani and the GDLI form it on the past participle frictus, and Treccani also names fricō (“to rub”), which Gabrielli gives as the base.^[6][7][8] Wiktionary sees a blend with both fricō and frīgeō (“to be cold”).^[1] The GDLI explains the old sense “to tremble” by association with the Latin verb for being cold.^[7]

Nocentini explains the voiced ⟨zz⟩ /ddz/ as a later change.^[3] Devoto instead saw a blend of the intensive with a Vulgar Latin verb from frigidus (“cold”), which would account for the voiced sound.^[9] The TLIO calls the origin uncertain and asks whether the verb might come from Old Italian frezza.^[10] Zaccaria derived it from Old High German frezzan (“to devour”), but DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT keep the Latin source.^{[11][2][3][4]}

Körting puts Spanish frezar (“to rub”) and French froisser under the same Latin verb.^[12] De Vaan notes that frīgō is close to Ancient Greek φρύγω (phrúgō, “to roast”) but cannot be matched with it by sound laws, so it may be a loanword.^[13][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Armannino's Fiorita of 1325, a Tuscan text, where the verb is figurative: to be tormented and agitated in the mind.^[10] DEI also records an old sense “to tremble” in the 14th century.^[14] DELI's earliest form is frissare “to make a screeching noise”, in Francesco Colonna (1499).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The modern senses appear in the agronomist Soderini, who died in 1597: “to burn or itch sharply on the skin” and “to sparkle”, of wine.^[2] He writes of squill that it irritates every cut, and where it touches the flesh fa frizzare.^[7] A note to the Malmantile explains the word as the pain felt when salt or vinegar is put on a wound.^[7][15]

The present participle frizzante is older than the verb's modern senses: “causing a sharp irritation” in the 14th-century Italian Seneca, “sparkling” in Annibal Caro (1544) and “witty, lively” in Paolo Giovio (1551).^[2] From the verb came frizzo “a cutting remark, a quip”, in that sense from Salvini (1726).^[2] The figurative use of words that sting is in Tommaseo, and Manzoni wrote of words that frizzavano on a poor woman's heart.^[15][6]

Timeline

• 1325 – Armannino's Fiorita uses the verb for torment of the mind.^[10]
• 14th century – Frizzante “causing sharp irritation” in the Italian Seneca.^[2]
• 1499 – Francesco Colonna uses the form frissare for a screeching noise.^[2]
• 1544 – Annibal Caro uses frizzante of a sparkling drink.^[2]
• 1551 – Paolo Giovio uses frizzante for “witty”.^[2]
• Before 1597 – Soderini uses frizzare for stinging on the skin and for sparkling wine.^[2]
• 1726 – Frizzo “quip” in Salvini.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a drink, to fizz or sparkle, tickling the palate: quest'acqua minerale frizza troppo.^[4][5][16]
2. Of something on the skin, to sting or smart: il disinfettante frizza sul ginocchio sbucciato.^{[4][5][16][17]}
3. Of air or wind, to feel sharply cold and fresh.^[4][5]
4. Of red-hot iron dipped in water, to hiss or sizzle.^[4][5][16]
5. (figurative) Of a remark or joke, to be biting or caustic.^[4][5][17]

Word family

• frizzante
• frizzo
• frizzio
• frizzore
• sfrizzare

Related words

• friggere
• fregare
• Latin frīgō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 372
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1720
15. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli