funerale

Forms

funerale m (plural funerali)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin fūnerālis (“funeral, funereal”), an adjective formed from the stem of Latin fūnus (“funeral rites”).^[2][3][4][1] The noun use already existed in Late Latin: DEI and the GDLI cite a neuter funerale from the glosses beside the adjective, found in Saint Augustine.^[5][6] Tommaseo–Bellini explains the noun as the adjective with a word for “rite” or “pomp” understood, and Zingarelli suggests that the frequent plural is short for a phrase meaning “funeral rites”.^[7][8] French funérailles comes from the neuter plural fūnerālia, and Spanish funeral is both adjective and noun.^[2]

The origin of fūnus is uncertain.^[9][10] De Vaan mentions two guesses: a root “to be afraid”, if an old gloss form Latin *foinos is real, or a Proto-Indo-European *dʰeuh₂-nes- (“closing ceremony”), from a root “to end”, after Watkins; he finds neither compelling.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective came first: the TLIO's first record is Boccaccio's Teseida (1339–1341), and GRADIT dates it to 1348–1353, the years of the Decameron, where the dead are carried to church “with funeral pomp of wax and chant” (con funeral pompa di cera e di canti).^{[11][2][3][6]} The noun, the rites that honour a dead person, is first recorded in Pandolfo Collenuccio (before 1504).^[12][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the adjective formed set phrases such as ufficio funerale, the rite of farewell at a burial.^[11] It stayed in literary use, as in Leopardi's funeral mio letto, but the noun took over in ordinary language from the 16th century, often in the plural for a solemn ceremony: Bandello and Davila already speak of i funerali.^[6][13][8]

Figuratively the word is used for anything gloomy: a dull party or a sad face (faccia da funerale) is un funerale.^[3][4][14] Modern usage distinguishes the funerale civile, without religious rites, and the funerale di Stato, held at public expense.^[14][3] German music uses funerale as a performance direction.^[15]

Timeline

• 1339–1341 – Boccaccio uses the adjective funerale in the Teseida.^[11][2]
• 1348–1353 – The Decameron has funeral pompa.^[3][6]
• 1351–1374 – The related funereo is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1504 – Pandolfo Collenuccio uses the noun.^[12][2]
• 1815 – Funerario is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. funeral, the civil or religious ceremony in which a dead person is taken to burial and given the last honours; also in the plural: I funerali si terranno giovedì in duomo.^[3][4][13]
2. (figurative) A gathering or event with no cheer at all; also a gloomy person: Quella cena è stata un funerale.^[3][4][16]

Adjective

1. (literary) Of a funeral or of the dead; funebre.^[3][4][1]

Word family

• funeralesco
• funeralmente

Related words

• funebre
• funerante
• funeratizio
• funere
• funesto
• Latin fūnus
• French funérailles

Usage notes

Faccia da funerale (or viso da funerale) is a very sad expression, and essere un funerale is said of a person or event without any cheer.^[3][8][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1734
6. ^ 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, 458
7. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli