frustare

Forms

frustare (first-person singular present frùsto, first-person singular past historic frustài, past participle frustàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin fūstō (“to beat with a stick”), from fūstis (“stick, cudgel”), with an inserted /r/ that has no clear explanation.^[2][3][4][5] DELI notes that such an epenthetic /r/ is fairly common and sees no need to explain it by the influence of briglia (“bridle”).^[2] Late Latin glosses have the verb in place of fūstigō (“to cudgel”), and Nocentini derives the Italian word from this longer verb, also with an intrusive /r/.^[6][7] Devoto explained the form as the Late Latin verb crossed with frusta.^[8] Wiktionary and Treccani instead take the verb as formed from Italian frusta + -are in Italian.^[1][9] DELI and Nocentini, however, list the noun (14th century) among the derivatives of the verb, which is recorded earlier.^[2][6]

The same Late Latin verb gave Old French fuster and Old Occitan frustar (“to whip, to beat”), the Occitan form also with the /r/.^[10][11] Old French also had fruster, which was confused with a homonym derived from frustum (“piece”).^[7]

The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^[12][1] De Vaan connects it with the verb found in -fūtāre, which would require the suffix ⟨-ti-⟩ to have been restored after the regular change of the cluster to ⟨-ss-⟩.^[12] Wiktionary also records a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike, kill”), through a form with ⟨-nd-⟩.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in 13th-century spiritual writings from the Veneto, and DELI's in Gallo da Pisa, who died before 1288.^[13][2] The sense is “to strike with a whip”, above all as a corporal punishment or a form of torture.^[2][13]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb was also used of whipping a spinning top to keep it turning, of lashing the air, and of beating a stretch of ground while crossing it.^[13] Boccaccio has a condemned man per la terra frustato “whipped through the town” before being hanged.^[14][9] The figurative sense “to censure harshly” is recorded from 1788, in Vincenzo Monti.^[2]

The noun frusta “whip” appears in the 14th century, and in 1846 it was first recorded for the kitchen whisk.^[2] From this came the verb's modern sense “to whisk” eggs or cream.^[3][9] Other derivatives are frustata “lash”, from the late 13th century, frustino “riding crop” (1781) and frustone (1751).^[2][6]

Timeline

• 13th century – The verb is recorded in spiritual writings from the Veneto.^[13]
• Before 1288 – Gallo da Pisa uses frustare “to whip”.^[2]
• Late 13th century – Frustata “lash of the whip” appears in the Laude.^[2]
• 14th century – The noun frusta “whip” is recorded in a vernacular translation of the Gospels.^[2]
• 1342 – A Pavian text has the unrelated frustare “to become worn out”.^[13]
• 1781 – Frustino “riding crop” is recorded.^[2]
• 1788 – Vincenzo Monti uses the verb for “to censure harshly”.^[2]
• 1846 – Frusta is recorded for the kitchen whisk.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To whip, to strike repeatedly with a whip, as punishment or to urge on an animal: Il carrettiere frustava il mulo.^[3][15][5]
2. (figurative) To censure or criticise harshly: frustare i vizi della corte.^[3][15][4]
3. (cooking) To whisk, to beat with a kitchen whisk: frustare gli albumi.^[3][15]
4. (reflexive) frustarsi: to whip oneself, to flagellate oneself.^[15][14]

Word family

• frusta
• frustata
• frustino
• frustone
• frustatore
• frustatura
• rifrustare
• sfrustacchiare

Related words

• fusto
• Latin fustis

Usage notes

A separate regional frustare “to wear out” (clothes, shoes) is formed from the adjective frusto “worn”, from Latin frustum “piece”.^[3][7][5] The TLIO records it from 1342, in a reflexive use “to become threadbare”, and GRADIT dates it from 1588 in an older sense “to waste time”.^[13][3] Treccani and Wiktionary list it as a figurative sense of the same verb.^[9][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 403
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1726
12. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier