frode

Forms

frode f (plural frodi)^[1] Old Italian also has the Latinising fraude and froda, which moved the word into the common class of feminines in -a.^[2][3] Fraude survives as a poetic form, and froda as an archaic one.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fraus (“harm; deceit”), continued from its accusative form.^[6][7][8][1] DEI and GDLI call the word semi-learned, beside the Latinising fraude.^[9][10] The verb frodare continues fraudō (“to cheat”), and frodo is a back-formation from it.^[6][7] Other Romance languages have the word only as a learned borrowing: French fraude and Spanish fraude.^[7][9]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain;^[7][6] Nocentini finds no cognates.^[7][6] De Vaan reconstructs a Proto-Italic *frawV-.^[11] Szemerényi and Schrijver both connected it with a Proto-Indo-European root for “deceive”, in different ways; de Vaan finds Szemerényi's account unlikely and Schrijver's suffix unclear.^[11] The Romans already linked the word with frūstrā (“in vain”), and de Vaan derives that adverb from a form *fraud-tro-.^[7][11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Breve di Montieri, a statute of 1219 from Montieri in Tuscany, in the sense of a trick meant to deceive someone by taking advantage of their good faith.^[6][8][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word already covered both the general sense, an action meant to deceive and harm someone, and the legal one, an unlawful act for an undue advantage at another's expense.^[2] It also named the inclination to deceive and, personified, the vice itself.^[2] Phrases such as a frode, con frode, per frode “dishonestly, by deceit” and fare frode “to cheat” are recorded before 1375.^[2] Dante writes frode è de l’uom proprio male, / più spiace a Dio (“fraud is man's own evil, it displeases God more”).^[10][13]

The derived verb frodare is recorded before 1292, and before 1400 Sacchetti uses it for evading customs duties;^[6] frodo, a trick to avoid paying duties, appears in an uncertain Picene record of 1193 and in Fazio before 1367.^[6] Modern law has many named kinds of fraud, such as frode fiscale (tax fraud), frode alimentare (food adulteration) and frode in commercio.^[8][5][4]

Timeline

• 1193 – Frodo appears in a Picene charter, perhaps a miscopying of frode.^[6]
• 1219 – Frode is first recorded, in the Breve di Montieri.^[6][2]
• 13th century – Frodatore “cheat” appears in Malispini.^[6]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb frodare.^[6]
• Before 1400 – Sacchetti uses frodare for evading customs duties.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) fraud: unlawful conduct that deceives others in order to harm their rights or gain an illicit profit: frode fiscale, frode alimentare, frode informatica.^{[8][14][4][15]}
2. deceit, trickery: any trick that exploits another's good faith: Hanno ottenuto quel contratto con la frode.^{[8][14][3][1]}
3. (moral theology) Deceit carried out through actions.^[8]

Word family

• frodare
• frodatore
• frodo
• antifrode

Related words

• defraudare
• fraudolento
• frustrare
• Latin fraus
• French fraude

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1721
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 374
11. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana