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fuori

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Pronunciation

Forms

fuori (invariable; shortened fuor)[2] Regional forms are fori and fora; old forms are fuora, fore and fuore.[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin forīs (“outside”).[5][6][7][1] The variants ⟨fora⟩ and ⟨fuora⟩ continue forās (“out, to the outside”), used for motion, while forīs expressed rest;[8][9] DEI notes that the two were used interchangeably from the 1st to the 4th century, also as prepositions.[10] The word is panromance: Old French fors (now French hors), Occitan foras, Catalan fora, Spanish fuera, Portuguese fora, Sardinian foras (“without”) and Romanian fără (“without”).[9][11] In Romance it almost entirely displaced extrā.[11]

The Latin adverbs are the ablative or locative plural and the accusative plural of a noun *fora, a variant of Latin forēs (“doors”), so that they first meant “at the door” and “to the door”.[9][12][13] They go back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- (“door”), with cognates Sanskrit द्वार् (dvā́r), Ancient Greek θύρα (thúra), Lithuanian dùrys, Old Church Slavonic двьрь (dvĭrĭ), Old High German turi (German Tür) and English door.[9][12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the form fuor in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, in the sense “outside, in the outer part”.[5][6] Fore is in Guido Guinizelli, before 1276, and fuori in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.[5]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini already used the word for exclusion from a state or rule.[5] Later senses are “out of doors” (Dino Compagni, 1310–1312) and “away from home” (Lorenzo Lippi, before 1665); the command to leave (fuori!) is in a 14th-century translation of Livy, and the order to hand something over (fuori i soldi!) in Girolamo Baruffaldi, before 1755.[5]

According to Menarini, quoted by DELI, far fuori “to kill” spread after the Liberation in 1945, first for summary executions of Fascists; it grew out of an older far fuori “to make away with a share of a shady deal”, attested in Bolognese criminal slang.[5] The adjective fuori “out of one's mind, stoned” (sei fuori?) appears in recent fiction.[14] Many compounds were formed in the 20th century: fuorigioco (1912), fuoriclasse (1921), fuorilegge (1948) and fuoristrada (1970).[5]

Timeline

  • 1219 – Fuor in the Breve di Montieri.[5]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses fuori.[5]
  • Before 1321 – Fuor che “except” in Dante.[5]
  • 1522–1525 – Machiavelli uses fuoruscito, a political exile.[5]
  • 1912 – Fuori gioco “offside” in the Resto del Carlino.[5]
  • 1945 – Far fuori “to kill” spreads after the Liberation.[5]
  • 1948 – Fuorilegge “outlaw” in Camillo Sbarbaro.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. outside, out, in or toward the outer part: ci vediamo fuori, metti fuori il bucato.[6][3][4]
  2. Away from home or one's usual place: stasera mangiamo fuori.[6][3]
  3. Out of town; abroad: nel fine settimana andiamo fuori.[6][3]
  4. In many phrases with verbs: tirare fuori (to take out), venire fuori (to come out), far fuori (to kill, to get rid of).[3][2][7]

Interjection

  1. fuori!: get out!; also hand over!, as in fuori i documenti!; in the theatre, a call for the performers.[6][5]

Preposition

  1. Outside, out of, also with di or da: fuori città, fuori dal comune.[6][8][1]
  2. Beyond limits or a state: fuori pericolo, fuori moda, fuori orario.[8][1]
  3. (literary) except.[8][5]

Adjective

  1. (colloquial) Out of one's mind, from drink or drugs: ma sei fuori?.[14]

Word family

  • fuorché
  • infuori
  • fuoribordo
  • fuoriclasse
  • fuorigioco
  • fuorilegge
  • fuoristrada
  • fuoriuscire
  • fuoruscito
  • fuoruscita

Usage notes

Before a noun the preposition is used alone or with di or da (fuori casa, fuori di casa, fuori dalla porta), and with a stressed pronoun di is needed: fuori di me.[8][7] Common phrases are fuori luogo (out of place), fuori di sé (beside oneself), essere tagliato fuori (to be left out) and al di fuori di (apart from).[6][1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1736
  11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  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. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 476
  14. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Suppl. 2009